Reprisal
by nodsri
Summary: Reprisal, an NGE/X-Men crossover. An Epilogue, in honor of the release of X-Men 2. Trust me, it's not that bad! Please R&R.
1. Reprisal 0:1 Impact

Ross Ice Shelf, Antartica  
  
She saw that it was a giant of light. She saw the men panic, shouting orders and frantically trying to undo the wrath that they have unleashed. She felt the bright austral summer suddenly darken, and from the hinterlands of Antartica, came winds, blowing with a ferocity that she has never seen in all her years. It tore into her thick furs, biting the tender skin underneath. It blew the tents away, the scientific equipment being strewn about the ice. The men could barely walk as the wind forced them to their knees. She grabbed what felt like a pole, and covered her face with her hands and blue-black hair. Her efforts at blocking the wind was successful, but there was nothing she could do to stop the light. The harsh white light that came from that giant seemed to know where the cracks of her fingers were and mercilessly battered their way through her eyelids.  
  
She was starting to feel something else too. From the giant. Heat. Heat that has never been felt in Antartica for millions of years. It, too, came from that giant. The giant that her father's expedition has been chasing. She started to sob, whether out of fear, sorrow, or because she couldn't think of any other response.  
  
She heard the voices of the men, getting more and more desperate every second.  
  
"The Lance! Put the Lance back in!"  
  
"No good! Energy readings are still ...."  
  
"Adam is still shrinking! We can't stop him"  
  
But where was her father?  
  
"Oh God, no! the ice!! the ice!!"  
  
She heard cracking sounds, then mercifully, unconsciousness claimed her.  
  
"Father?" she asked weakly, her eyes barely responding to her commands.  
  
He told her he was sorry, and he told her that while his own life is forfeit for his sins, his black and tormented soul would never rest had his only daughter die here with him. He told her that he was sorry that he could never face her, or her mother, all the while when they were both still married, when she was still part of a family. He pressed his cross pendant into her hands, he told her to live. His final words on this world would be "I'm sorry we couldn't go see the penguins," but she would never hear his words. He closed the seal on the escape capsule, and his last act was to cover his daughter with his body as the giant imploded, its unearthly energies released at last to do their destructive dance across the ice of the South Pole.  
  
When Misato Katsuragi finally regained consciousness, she would become the only living soul to see a tower of energy erupting from the South Pole reaching all the way to the heavens. The young girl, barely fifteen, would be the lone survivor of the disaster that mankind would forever remember as Second Impact.  
  
Seoul  
  
A hot summer day in the capital of South Korea, even allowing for the climactic changes that Second Impact has brought upon the planet, almost 12 years ago. After the tidal waves that ravaged the world, came the flooding, as the ice of Antartica melted raised the sea level. Next came disaster after disaster as every nation on earth felt the wrath of Adam.  
  
But for the three young women running for their lives along the streets, the latest disaster in their lives is the fault of an irresponsible young woman named Misato Katsuragi.  
  
"Great idea, Misato!" huffed a serious looking woman, pausing briefly to adjust her glasses which were threatening to run their own way off her nose. "Lets go shopping in Korea," the woman said, her voice mimicking Misato's lively tone. "Lots of bargains now their currency's down 400 percent against the Yen" she continued. She was huffing and gasping heavily now, as she wasn't used to exerting herself so hard. She was more of a lab rat, spending her time with organic circuit designs in the biotechnology labs trying to obtain her doctorate. She knew it. Never, ever, ever, listen to Misato.  
  
"Look Ritsuko, how'd I know if they were going to riot?" Misato asked. She hardly slowed down. Her body was more used to the demands she was placing on it. The muscles in her legs flexed with every step she took, as she started to slowly break away from her friends, almost without realizing it. Her ears were almost totally atttuned to the bloodthirsty cries of the mob that was searching for them. The faint cries of "Kill the Japanese" reached her ears. In Japanese. The mob wanted them scared first, dead later.  
  
"Or blame you Japanese for their economic problems?" asked the third woman. "Misato, Ritsuko, look, there's an alley ahead!" Donna glanced behind her. Misato and herself could probably keep on running, after all, they were both officer cadets for NERV. Ritsuko never had to do an endurance drill in her life. This is probably the most excitement the poor woman has had in years. There was the real risk that if they didnt stop running, Ritsuko would tire, and become easy prey for the mob.  
  
"Great! Ritsuko! hurry up! We can hide there till the mob clears up!" Misato almost reached back to grab her friend's arm so she can lead her to safety.Abruptly, Misato stopped dead in her tracks.  
  
She hurriedly removed her sandals, then threw one into a street to her left, then continued running, her bare feet burning everytime they touched the hot pavement, all the while clutching the other sandal in her hand.  
  
"What the hell?" asked Ritsuko, in between gasps.  
  
"Decoy! They'll think we ran down that way" she yelled back at Ritsuko. Donna yelled "hashita!!" at them both, now leading the pack, "almost there!".  
  
All three women practically threw themselves into the alley, landing, or rather, falling, rather hard. The breath was knocked out of Misato as she swore she felt her breasts flatten out from the impact.  
  
They waited there in the alley, praying that they wont be discovered. Misato felt real fear, felt its iron grip choking her throat as she started to pray, first to the Christian God of her father, then the Kami of her mother, then to them both, not caring from where salvation would come, almost daring all the gods to come and save them first.  
  
Then came the dreaded roar and hubbub, louder and louder, then fainter as the enraged mass of Koreans took Misato's bait. Finally, as the din faded into silence, Donna stood up. The Argentinian slowly, carefully poked her head out of the alley.  
  
"I think it's okay for us to breathe, girls," she said, a brave smile on her face. All along the streets as far as her eyes can see were empty streets, and the aftermath of the riots. She can hear sirens in the distance, and in another direction, she can hear the sounds of battle as the police and the mob faced each other in running clashes of stick versus shield, firebombs versus water cannons that were flaring up across the city. The wind blew loose sheafs of newspapers along the streets.  
  
Ritsuko took Donna's advice. She took a deep breath, letting the air fill her lungs. Then she screamed until every last molecule of that air was expelled from her lungs. They weren't alone in the alley.  
  
"Ohmygodohmygodohmygod....." Donna mumbled in horror.  
  
When the three women dived into the alley, Ritsuko had landed on something soft.  
  
The dead men were hidden under hastily laid sheets of newspapers, until Ritsuko fell on one of them. It took every last bit of self-control she had, not to scream in horror right there and bolt from the horrible sight, and take her chances with the mob.  
  
Misato's chest heaved as she gasped for air, her mind a jumbled, exhausted, confused mess. She needs a drink. She longed for the sweet oblivion that would soon come from the bottle. This nightmare was not ending.  
  
Despite her pronounced initial reaction, it was Ritsuko who first got her wits about her. The sweat from her brow dripped down her forehead, now creased in thought, as she started to examine the dead men. The sweat was all over her now, it was running from her temples down her neck, it was running between her breasts, darkening her blue blouse, it was seeping through her pantyhose as well as making her hands slippery, making it harder for her to remove the clothing from the dead men. She took some forensic pathology classes as an undergraduate and now the urge to discover how these men had died overtook her horror.  
  
Donna and Misato stood there, stupefied, as Ritsuko stripped the three dead men naked. It was obvious that they had died violent deaths. Both women felt a certain sense of shame, and averted their eyes from the scene. Misato wanted to tell Ritsuko to leave the dead well alone, but found that she couldn't. She just couldn't.  
  
Ritsuko's eyes narrowed, as she tried to chest. think of any weapon that could do such damage. Each man had identical sets of wounds. Deep stabs, three stab points on each man. Each stab wound formed a horizontal line with each hole an identical distance apart from each other . One was stabbed in the heart. One was gutted. The third died horribly as the three-bladed weapon ripped through his throat. Ritsuko had thought of the sai, a three-pointed weapon she only saw in those old samurai vs ninja movies. But it wasn't a sai.  
  
She could swear that the wounds were caused by claws of some sort. But what kind of animal would posess such deadly weapons?  
  
A cold stab of fear almost stopped Ritsuko's heart as the thought registered in her head.  
  
Not what animal, she thought. What man?  
  
Madripoor  
  
Even with two-fifths of the island submerged by the rising seas, life goes on in the island, just as it goes on elsewhere. O'Donnel's bar still opened, and that was good enough for him. The bastard threw him a surprise welcoming party, and O'Donnel's was the only place he could go for a drink in peace in Madripoor nowadays. The man known as Patch would just have to grin and bear it.  
  
"Glad to have you back from Korea, you ugly bastard" said Jessica Drew, kissing him playfully on the cheek as he growled in annoyance. He didn't feel happy to be back. Someone had set him up good. He was minding his own damn business in Madripoor when the phone rang. It was Eris, a woman from his past, a woman he'd hoped not to have to deal with for a long while. Yet there she was, calling from somewhere in Korea, begging him to help find her daughter. He couldn't refuse.  
  
With a resigned shrug, he wondered how those people faked her voice. Technology? Magic? Luck? Does it matter now?  
  
The second he passed the immigration gates at Kimpo Airport, he was tailed. Suits. It tended to get ugly when those Intelligence people get involved. Everywhere he went they followed. His usual contacts in Korea got the heat put on them bad. Then the sniping started. Wherever he went there would the sniper be,trying hard to put him down. Not bad at his job too. There were a few incidences in Pusan when the sniper had him tagged. Any ordinary man couldn't have survived, but he was no normal man. He had recognized the smell of the sniper blowing in the wind, and dived to safety just a split second before a bullet took the space where his throat had been. He had been frustrated, but his unseen enemy was too.  
  
Because soon after that, the hit squads came. The worst time was in the middle of a riot in Seoul. He'd feared the riots in Seoul had something to do with Eris' daughter. He was desperately trying to track her in the city, avoiding both police and rioters, but to no avail. Nowhere in the city could he detect her scent. And yet the suits come after him. He fought them all across Seoul, leaving a trail of dead bodies mixed with rioters' dead bodies, stuffed in garbage bins, rotting away in the city's sewerage systems.  
  
And some of them lie in an alley along Younggary Street.  
  
He got fed up. He left for Madripoor, and what did he see on CNN, but a glimpse of Eris, among several anti-United Nations demonstrators staging a rather lively protest in New York. He'd been had.  
  
"Any souvenirs for us Patch?" asked someone. "Grief, I got plenty," Patch said, absent-mindedly brushing a hand on his crumpled excuse for a suit.  
  
The man known only as Logan knew that bad things lay in wait for him in the future. His eye, the one covered under the eyepatch, twitched in anticipation of violence that's soon to come. But not today. Today, beer is on the house. 


	2. Reprisal 0:2 She was but a child

**Tokyo-02**

"Get REAL!" exclaimed Misato. "Madripoor? Could you IMAGINE?" 

"Or so I heard anyway," Donna replied, briefly pausing to take off her red beret and let her hair down. As she shook her hair free, she continued "word has it that Madripoor is going to file its bid for NERV world headquarters to the UN Security Council any time now. I guess that makes it, fourteen? fifteen? countries now that wants to have Officer Cadet Katsuragi rampaging through their bars," Donna said with a sly smile at her friend. 

Misato punched her friend in the arm. "Quit it! Madripoor is a stinkhole! It's all hot and muggy, and it's full of murderers and mean people. NO place for a delicate young woman like myself," she smugly finished. 

Despite herself, Donna couldn't help but giggle. "Delicate young women don't challenge those Americans from Atsugi to drinking contests.." Misato punched her arm again. Wincing, she turned to face Misato. "Well, if you think the rest of the world isn't your kind of place, you could always apply to be stationed in Japan," Donna said. 

"I guess...." 

The two women fell silent, and continued to walk through the streets of Tokyo-02, the incessant sound of piling and construction seeming to match their footsteps as they made their way to the rebuilding campus of Tokyo University. Unlike the stubborn Dutch, building a New Amsterdam on floating platforms over the submerged ruins of the old one, the New Tokyo was a smaller replica of the old taking shape inland. 

"You read the latest making rounds on the Internet?" Misato asked. "The one about Tokyo Three?". Donna merely shook her head, then wiped the sweat from her brow. "Tokyo-03? National agency headquarters? What about it?" 

Misato lowered her head, lowering her voice to a whisper "They say there's a human cloning project going on there, and the clone's running around among the scientists and construction workers, but no one knows exactly who it is." 

Donna laughed. "Goddamn, girl, you'll believe anything! Next you'll tell me you believe the cover story about the Impact, too!" Misato shook her head, solemnly. "No. Never." Misato ran her hand along the jacket of her uniform. She could almost feel the scar that ran from her chest to belly under the heavy khakis. The scar came from Antartica, she'd first realized it when the navy ships rescued her. The scar she has kept, despite offers to remove it by surgery. It served as a reminder of what she must do the rest of her life. 

"What'd you think of today's weapons drill?" Misato asked, abruptly changing the subject. Her eyes briefly wandered to a baker's window, mentally making a note to try out the imported English pudding so prominently displayed. "Bleh" replied Donna, sticking her tounge out briefly, in the cartoon style to emphasize her point. "Not like they expect us to attack Angels with small arms, do they?". "Wouldn't it be cool if they let us weapons drill with those Eva robots I hear they're working on?" Misato asked, as they stopped at a junction. The cars were fewer than there used to be. A warm breeze gently lapped at their jackets and blew across Donna's hair, sending strands lapping against her collar. 

"You wouldn't want that. I heard most Eva test pilots went mad. One got disintegrated right in the cockpit a few years back, so I'm told. Right in front of her husband and son, too." Donna said. Misato shook her head disbelievingly. "Where the hell do you get so much scuttlebutt?" she asked. "I tend to stay sober long enough to pick up scuttlebutt, Misato," as Donna sidestepped another punch to the arm. 

"Well, there's my apartment," Donna said. "See you after classes tomorrow?". Misato sighed. "Wanna go drinking? It's not like I have anything to do, Kaji's off to Kyoto..." her voice trailed off "I'll be alone tonight." 

"Alone? Aren't you supposed to meet up with Tomoe and Ikeda about that term paper due Wednesday? Like," glancing at her watch "..now?" asked Donna, as Misato's cellular phone went off like an angry hornet. As Donna went up the stairs, the sounds of Misato tendering profuse apologies to her classmates slowly faded away. 

He had watched the two young women take their evening walk. He had to admit, he was ogling the Japanese one with the residual stink of cheap beer on her. The Latin-looking one wasn't half bad either, but the Japanese girl had the stink of yesterday's beer on her that suggested that she was a serious heavy drinker , yet her body was taut and muscular under the shapeless khaki jacket ,suggesting to his mind that this woman was simultaneously abusing herself while trying hard to keep her body strong and ready to spring like the cocked hammer of a gun. The woman was a study in contradictions, much like himself. 

He could hear bits and pieces of what the two soldier women were talking about, their voices were carried on the wind and arriving in his ears along with the rustling of leaves, the roaring buzz of flies and other sounds that the two women either filtered out or were just unable to hear. It wasn't their fault they couldn't hear the things only he could. They were only human. He was the best at what he did. 

Logan drew his fedora to shade his eye, the supposedly good one that's not covered up by his Patch persona's eyepatch. The setting sun was getting in his eye, a thousand shades of red, some that only he could see competing with themselves for his attention. He really didn't like this new city much. He had preferred the old Tokyo, with its crushing crowds of humanity surging this way and that under the unmerciful gaze of the lights of the Neon City. It had charm. This new city was a depopulated, empty shell. He supposed that the Tokyo-3 the women were talking about would be even worse. 

The smell of stale beer came stronger to him now, mixed with breaking sweat and a thundering of boot on concrete. He looked up to see Misato running madly in his direction. Cute, he thought. The babes were still running to him, after all these years. 

"Excuse me sir, coming through , thank you!!" Misato waved at the strange-looking gaijin as she ran down the street trying to reach the University. He had stepped aside almost before she had finished yelling, and as she passed him, she could have sworn there was the beginnings of a smile underneath that grim countenance. She sped on, with every step forgetting the man she passed, her mind focused on how many times she would have to bow in apology to Tomoe and Ikeda for not making it in time. Maybe she shouldn't have walked Donna home today, but it seemed like a nicer idea than just walking alone to the university to meet them. Cursing her student life, Misato's scent rapidly faded as Logan turned and continued walking to his destination. 

Logan savored the stench of the woman. It was, strangely,pleasant to him. It was the sheer honesty of the smell, unmasked by perfume. In a world of lies, deceit and silence, even stinking honesty was good by him.He went on his way, unhurriedly turning into a side street, his eyes scanning for the address he wanted. He quickly opened the door to the apartment, his eyes narrowing, the better to find his quarry. His body slightly tensed out of habit as his hands clamped down on the handle, and with a rough, heavy handed twist, opened the door. 

"Kindly close the door, Logan-san. My eyes do not like the light" "Katsuya. Long time," Logan said, as he slowly closed the door. "We have much to talk about, old friend. How goes the Xavier dream in this cursed, dead world?" the old man asked, his voice cracking with age. "Thing with dreams," Logan sighed, wistfully. "they get faded real fast." "I understand, " Katsuya said, simply. 

"Tell me, how could someone like you lose an eye?" Katsuya calmly asked, his hands pouring warm water into a beer mug. "This? You really believe the eyepatch, bub? Yer slipping, old man," Logan said, a lighthearted mixture of a laugh and a growl escaping his lips. Katsuya took long slow sips of the water, the dim rays of the setting sun creeping in from one of the windows, evading the heavy curtains. It illuminated his silver hair, once jet black like Logan's own. Katsuya then set down his mug, the water level barely lower than when he started to drink it. 

Logan sat down on a tatami mat, his eyes slowly scanning the room, finally gazing at Katsuya. In his days in the spook business, they had worked together, and against each other, enough times for each man to develop a healthy respect for the other. Even in retirement, Katsuya's presence was still felt in the Japanese spy community. He served as a bulletin board of sorts, facilitating exchanges of messages and information from people who would normally be duty bound to kill each other. Logan had tried to pay him a visit whenever he was in town. He would be hard put to call Katsuya a friend, but it he always made the visits. Perhaps it was a sign of old age, this habitual seeking of the familiar. 

He slowly reached inside his pockets for his cigar and lighter. Despite himself, it was rather nice to have a few minutes of quiet. Katsuya spoke again as he lit it. "I do have information for you this time, if you choose to believe it." Logan's eyebrows lifted in a quizzical expression. "You have heard of the latest ..... spook shop in town?" Katsuya asked the obvious. "NERV," Logan replied. "Annoying little gits far as I can see. Snooping for more than little green men, and not caring much 'bout doing it quiet." Logan briefly recalled the two women. "But at least, they're recruiting some nice looking skirts. Got to give 'em that, eh?" he asked, blowing smoke rings, watching impassively as the drifted upwards, swirling into nothingness.   
  
"And their choice of hatchet job girl has its merits too, " he said. Then proceeded to blow his mind away. 

**Tokyo University**

"Misato! Misato!" 

She looked up from the magazine she was reading. She had just bought the issue of Auto Sports Monthly, seduced by the photo feature on the new model Renaults. Too poor to afford anything of the sort now, but a girl can dream, and she knew she had guaranteed employment when she finally gets out of university. She let out a muffled noise in acknowledgement at Kei. Kei was one of the NERV officer cadets, a lousy soldier in Misato's opinion, but well liked by the others. "Yes, Kei-chan?" she asked, folding the magazine in her lap. The student center was winding down for the night, and soon the normal students would be gone, to be replaced by the crammers, the lovey-dovey couples and the truly weird.She was done with Ikeda and Tomoe, and the student center seemed a good place to wait for the campus bus home. Better than the stuffy library building anyway, she thought. 

"You know that the JSDF cadets are going to have an inspection parade tomorrow morning? On our parade grounds?" Kei asked, her voice suddenly lowering to conspiratorial tones. "Uh-huh," Misato grunted, noncommitally. "Well, Michiru, Gerde and some of us are planning to get even with the army boys for that smoke-shell stunt they pulled last semester." Without waiting for Misato's reaction, Kei excitedly whispered "They're going to pour tar on the entire parade ground! Let them march through wet tar and see them all get stuck!" Misato could barely suppress an evil laugh. Kei asked, "you in, Misato?" 

"And just what kind of evil do you have planned for the Emperor's finest, hmmm?" asked a deep, serious woman's voice. 

"Ritsuko?!" exclaimed Misato "How long have you been standing there?" Ritsuko just smiled as her right hand adjusted her glasses, the left arm holding the latest draft of her thesis close to her chest. "Oh, long enough to worry about my safety when they let you carry guns fulltime," she said in the famous sarcastic tones that she always ended up using on Misato; sooner more often than later. "But I wasn't even in on it!" Misato protested. "Tut-tut, Misato-chan," Ritsuko said, "nobody on campus would believe you, you know." 

"Misato-_chan_?!, Akagi Ritsuko, remember you are only one lousy year older than me?" protested Misato. Given the age difference, Ritsuko's achievements were prodigal. She was finishing up her doctoral thesis, and Misato was still a struggling undergraduate. The differences didn't end there. While Ritsuko was aloof, giving little more than a polite nod or greeting to anyone she knew that passed by, preferring to spend almost all her time in the labs, Misato was always ready to buy someone a drink, when she wasn't daring people to beat her in drinking contests, or she was always arguing with the men over cars, baseball, soldiering,anything. It was perhaps true that opposites attract, as they have been firm friends since the moment they met. 

"Hello, Ritsuko," Kei said politely."Where are you going?" 

Ritsuko turned towards her, as if noticing her for the first time, and gave Kei a polite smile. "Materials Lab." "Oh?" Misato asked. "I thought your Frankenstein lab was at the Biotechsomething, well, you know, your scientist building. Thing, Whatever," she mumbled as she picked up her magazine again. If Ritsuko was offended by her words, she didn't show it. Turning to Kei, she continued "They're bringing in some adamantium for nuclear resonance spectroscopy. We've got the only working NRS lab in Asia, so.. " Kei's eyebrows arched out from academic interest. Kei was supposed to be an engineer, after all. "_Hai_, Ritsuko. The profs were talking about it in class just last week. Hardest metal on earth, right?" Ritsuko nodded. "And I plan to do a comparative study on just how hard that sample is compared to Misato's head." 

"I'm too ladylike to give you the finger, Ritsuko," Misato's muffled voice came from behind the pages of the magazine. Both Kei and Ritsuko laughed. "I'll see you later, Misato. Kei, I think we'll release the test results to the students next week or so if you're interested. Much safer than petty mischief." Ritsuko's heels made echoing clicking sounds as she made her way along one of the corridors. 

"So you in, Misato?" 

"Nah, no mood tonight. Avenge NERV honor on my behalf, will you?" 

"Whoa" 

"What is it, Kei?" Misato asked in bored tones, her attention again focused on a photo of a shiny Renault Alpine. It'd look pretty good in blue, she thought. 

"That is one ugly gaijin" 

"Where?" 

"Down the corridor, 9 o'clock. Came in through the side doors, went the same way as Ritsuko." 

Misato looked up. She briefly saw the fedora, the battered leather jacket, the muttonchop sideburns, the lit tip of a cigarette. He was short for a gaijin, but the skin tone still gave him away. He quickened up his pace to a fast walk, sidestepping a slowmoving geekish person struggling under the weight of several thick books. Then he got mixed up with the shadows and was gone. 

"Couldn't see him," she said, returning to her magazine. 

"May I speak with you, Dr Akagi?" Logan asked, trying hard to sound polite. 

Ritsuko stopped dead in mid-step, her left foot seemingly levitating in mid air, as her body instinctively performs a delicate balancing act for a fraction of a second, before she regained her balance ,and turned her body to face him. Not a bad looker for an ice queen type, thought Logan. While her eyes were slightly red and puffy from the short hours of sleep she allowed herself, he could see the cold light of a powerful intellect shine through. Her dark brown hair looked like a mass of spikes barely held into a semblance of order using clips. He smelt the residues of coffee and tobacco on her, which briefly reminded him of the other woman he had met this very afternoon. It was almost sad, the way the young abuse themselves. No healing factors on them, either, he thought. He glanced at her long white lab coat. It was covered all over with creases, suggesting to him that she probably did sleep in them. Yet she kept a proud demeanour about herself, and her thin, almost cruel lips quickly broke into a smile of amusement, the cold light in her eyes dimming slightly. 

"I'm sorry, sir. I think you have me mistaken for my mother, Akagi Naoko. I'm Akagi Ritsuko, not-quite-Doctor," she said, unconsciously tightening her grip on her thesis, bringing it closer to her chest. "Name's Logan. Call me Patch. Let's just say I'm interested in the scrap metal of yours." The smile faded, her eyes narrowed to dark slits. She kept her gaze on him as she said "If you mean you're interested in buying it, the sample belongs to Gehirn Laboratories, not us, Patch. I suggest you talk to the project leader about this." 

"That would be? " her evasive answer piqued him. 

"Dr. Akagi. You won't find her here." 

Logan growled an "oh?" 

"Tokyo 3. She's .." Ritsuko paused, hissing the next word, "busy developing a project for the proposed alien defense agency, she tenders her regrets but is unable to personally," as she paused, she exhaled deeply, the words escaping her lips along with the last of the air in her lungs; "supervise this round of tests." 

"I see" 

"Yes. We're releasing the results to the public next week or so," as she started to leave, he could swear her eyes went just a bit redder. Ritsuko bowed her head low and walked away, her eyes fixed on the floortiles as her mind kept finding strange new patterns in the grout. 

  
**Anomalous Materials**

'"Well this is a surprise," Ritsuko said as she reached the door of the Materials Lab. It was locked, and her cardkey wasn't of any use here. Before she could look for the intercom, or even knock, the door slid open with a whooshing sound. The face of her supervisor greeted her. She stepped into the lab, squinting involuntarily at the brightness inside. They had substituted halogen lamps for the usual florescent ones, she noted. 

"Welcome, Ritsuko. Most people here you know, but, " her supervisor waved his hand towards a tallish man with short cropped red hair and thick, rimmed glasses, "Dr Freeman here is from America, and Ms.Mortenisson here is an observer from NERV," he finished, as she noticed a raven-haired, fair skinned woman standing unobstrusively in a corner. She smiled at Ritsuko, and she could only nod in polite greeting. 

"So, what interests NERV in this experiment?" Ritsuko asked, her idle curiosity was beginning to stir. The woman merely smiled as her supervisor told her "It seems that NERV and Gehirn Labs will be working very closely in the future, so I'm told."   
Ritsuko stiffened slightly. Her mother hadn't indicated this in her emails to her. What else, she wondered, was she keeping from me? 

"Let's not waste time, shall we?" Dr. Freeman said. "I'm anxious to run the sample through the machine". Ritsuko's supervisor turned in her direction "we've already got the connection up between the machines here and our MAGI types, theoretically, we should get analysis results a few minutes before the computers are done with it." She hoped that would be the case. There were many things about the design and functions of the new MAGI supercomputers that bothered her. While she had based her work on the discoveries of her mother, there were too many things about them that were classified. She knew that her work on them is but a pale shadow of her mother's pioneering efforts. Yet, even working blind, she designed and implemented a computer system that actually replicated the human brain's abilities at inference and deduction and married it to the blinding speed of a supercomputer. She felt justifiable proud of her work as she walked over to an innocent-looking monitor. It was connected to her MAGI, the large red letters framed in red stating "READY". 

"Ready whenever you are," Ritsuko shouted to the others, who wasted no time going through the procedures. Dr Freeman wheeled in a cart with the sample prepped and ready to be inserted into the resonance spectroscope. It appeared more like slag to Ritsuko than a proper sample of metal, but she wasn't really concerned What mattered to her was the proving of her claim. Her MAGI would be able to output an accurate reading and analysis of the sample faster than anyone else. She continued to stare intently at the monitor as the machine hummed into life. 

"What the hell?" 

"Freeman? What's going on?" someone asked, alarmed. 

"Resonance cascade reaction on the sample!" Freeman shouted. Then there were many explosions. The terminal Ritsuko was montitoring ejected a shower of sparks followed by black smoke. "Shutting down.. attempting shutdown.. it's not.. it's not shutting down!" Freeman shouted. As if to illustrate the utter futility of the scientists' efforts, a series of explosions tore through the lab, and in the smoke, fire and confusion, she didn't even see the blow coming to the back of her head. 

Then everything went dark. 

Ms. Mortenisson went to work quickly, attacking the panicking scientists. There were only a few of them, and being caught in such chaos, it was easy to put them out of commission in a short time. She retrieved the sample, opened the door, and started running, her skin seemingly crawling under the khaki uniform she wore. As she ran her skin grew rougher, scales appearing on dark blue skin. Her eyes changed from brown into an inhuman yellow as her hair magically shortened itself and turned red. The mutant shapeshifter known as Mystique has struck again. The sample was weighing her down, but she was a strong woman. She kept running, out of the building, across darkened lawns , making steady progress towards an unguarded gate.Sweat made her reptilian skin glisten, adrenaline pumping as she made her way.   


A small rock landed at her feet, barely missing her ankle. She immediately stopped, her eyes and ears open and searching the deserted area for the attacker. The heavy, confident footsteps were what she registered first. Then came the voice. 

"So, big fancy world savers reduced to stealing to meet the budget?" 

Logan stepped out from behind a pillar. He blocked the only unguarded gate. This was bad news for her. Deciding that violence was the proper solution to this problem, she chucked aside the heavy sample. She then took a running start and made a strong leap, changing her body into that of someone more suited to fighting someone like Logan. Logan cursed as Mystique changed into Sabretooth, dodging her sharp claws before they could slice his chest. 

"My kinda game," he growled through gritted teeth. He brought his fists forward, the distinctive snickt sound broke the silence as he unleashed his claws. "You been here before, bub," snarled Logan, the moonlight reflecting off his razor sharp adamantium claws. Mystique flinched. She got stabbed by those very same claws the last time they fought, in the bowels of the Statue of Liberty. Mystique, in her Sabretooth guise, snarled, mentally vowing revenge. She made a diving tackle, trying to claw Logan in the gut. He dodged, bringing his own claws down to bear on her back, but missed himself as she rolled away. Both combatants got up, circling each other warily, Logan keeping himself between Mystique and the open gate. 

They both stared each other down, trying to anticipate what the other was planning. Logan was the better combatant but Mystique has always fought using her head. Trickery and shapeshifting could turn the situation to her favour. 

Mystique planned her attack more carefull this time, lunging forward in a feint, only to roll away as his claws struck empty air. Concentrating, she willed her body to remold itself. As the Toad, her legs were now strong enough to simply leap over him, across the open gate. It meant she was forced to leave the prize behind, but she had no other choice. The explosion had alerted campus security, and it was only a matter of time before the city police got involved as well. The chances for her escape diminished by the second, and as she turned to see Logan attempt to give chase, she laughed, changing again into the mutant flyer Angel. She couldn't entirely emulate mutant powers, and wasn't used to having wings, her clumsy attempts at flight caused her to bob up and down in the sky like a cork in water. It was not a major problem to her. She can always change into something more discreet, and besides, Logan can't fly. 

Logan, indeed, could not fly. Cursing bitterly at the rapidly fading form of his opponent, he could only marvel at how accurate Katsuya's information was. Not bad for such an old timer. He had accurately identified Mystique as some sort of merc for NERV, and he knew that Gehirn had experiments planned in the university. However, it was strange, and even Katsuya couldn't figure out the reason. While NERV had a more visible presence and Gehirn was just another anonymous scientist shop, they were both United Nations agencies. NERV could have simply asked them for the sample. He didn't much care for the wheelings and dealings of these people, but the chance to gut Mystique as payback was just too good to miss. He looked up in the sky again, but failed to find any trace of her. 


	3. Reprisal 0:3 Tokyo 03

**The Void**

"Are we to understand that you failed your task?" 

Mystique flinched. The voices that came through the earpiece were flat, booming, old. The weight of each and every word rang in her ears. The accusation damned her more and more with each second. She lowered her voice, masking the sickening weight of fear that began to grip her stomach. 

"That is correct" She knew what was to come. 

"We do not appreciate failure," said a voice. 

"The adamantium was to be reported stolen," said another 

"Your incompetence has disrupted our preparations for the return of the Angels," said another voice. 

"There never was any need to go to such lengths!" Mystique pleaded, trying to pacify the old men somehow. "Gehirn and NERV will soon merge, why would we need to steal from ourselves?" Mystique felt a throbbing in her head. She saw a creeping blackness at the periphery of her vision. Could it be they were attacking her mind, as well? 

"Our wisdom is not for you to question!" shouted another voice, this one sounded older and more forceful than the others. "Were it not for your.. biological assets to humanity...." Mystique felt the throbbing grow stronger. She clenched her fists so tightly that the receiver she was holding began to crack. She closed her eyes now, mustering whatever mental strength she had to repel the psychic attack her erstwhile masters at SEELE were throwing at her. 

"Your services are no longer necessary. Never cross our path again." 

Then everything went silent. She opened her eyes, gazing upon the darkened motel room. The open window brought in the sights and smells of Madripoor. She could see the open ocean a few miles away, the ghostly shadow of a cargo ship silently moving across the waters. The breeze blew in and brought with it the smell of oil, smoke and sewage. She slumped against the bed, breathing out a long sigh. She was out of a job again, it seems. Just as well, she thought. Some bosses are complete assholes. 

Elsewhere, in a place not of reality, or in a place of a separate reality, twelve black steel monoliths appeared in the void. Each monolith was of the same size and shape, the word SEELE emblazoned in bright, glowing red letters. Each monolith had a number in the same red letters. A voice emanated from the seventh monolith. 

"Her failure has set us back too far" 

The fifth monolith spoke "It seems we cannot utilize this adamantium to our own uses" 

"Ikari will continue to hold such a valuable asset in his hands. We entrust so much to a single man" said the tenth. 

The ninth monolith added "already we are going to give him NERV, as well as control of the original Lance, and Lilith herself. If he were to betray us..." 

"Ikari has served us well. He has been as valuable as a brother to us," said the third monolith. Finally, the monolith marked as 01 spoke, as the others paid a respectful silence to the first among equals. 

"Ikari will not have total freedom. We will be with him in body and spirit. We will sit in judgement over him. Continue our preparations. The Angels will come. We will triumph, and on the day of promise, we shall render the gates of Heaven itself asunder, in the Complementation of Man." 

The other voices murmured their support. "However, no one may interfere in our plans. The reason for this particular failure must be punished." 

Then all twelve monoliths disappeared instantateously. Then all there was,was the blackness of the void. 

**New Ginza**The buzzing pierced her sweet darkness, forcing Misato awake. "Gwannaholdonnadammitinuteeeeee" she mumbled, with increasing frequency and loudness, as she first opened her eyes, stretched her arms and legs, then rolled off the mattress, knocking over an ashtray in the process. Cursing, she got on all fours, her hands groping around,searching for something on the floor. Her hands felt the hard denim, grabbed it, then she roughly ran her hands over it, her eyes refusing to open, trying to identify it with touch alone. 

The buzzing continued. The clock on the wall said it was either midnight or noon. There was no way to tell with the heavy curtains. Morning sunlight was such an annoyance. 

She had identified the item of clothing as a pair of jeans. She groped her way around, found a chair, and sat on it as she tried to stick both legs through the correct holes. The buzzing continued. She recognized the sound as her door buzzer. "Comiiiiiiing...coming!!!". Not bothering to even search for her bra and t-shirt, she found her red field service jacket thrown in an unsightly heap of old laundry. The buzzing stopped briefly, for all of three seconds, and continued its irritating, unstoppable buzzing. She knew only one person evil enough to not release her finger on a buzzer. She buttoned her jacket up, enough to cover her modesty, as she tip-toed over mounds of old newspapers, bowls of half-eaten ramen noodles, crushed beer cans and random piles of clothing. The buzzing was now mentally echoing in her head, as she opened the door."Took you long enough!" Ritsuko sighed in exasperation. 

"Ritsuko??" Misato asked, incredulous "is that you?" 

She smiled, deftly sidestepping Misato to enter her apartment. "Gaaach!" Ritsuko theatrically pinched her nose shut as she stepped inside. "How many times did you miss trash collection day? Six?" Misato scowled at the insult. She had only missed three. Then she realized the change in her friend 

"You're blonde now?" 

"Like it?" Ritsuko asked, self-consciously brushing a lock of hair away from her eyes. "It does make me look younger. I think I'm going to keep it". 

"Think it'll convince the men that you're not an ice queen, Doctor Akagi?" Misato asked with a snide tone in her voice. 

"Men? Waste my time on men? I'm not you, Misato. It's for me, not the men, or you, or anyone else. And I am NOT an ice queen," She raised her voice a little at that last sentence. Misato made a tactical retreat. 

"What brings you here?" 

"I'm bored with it all, Misato. Almost a year underground in the Geofront under Tokyo-03 trying to get everything working before we hand it over to you barbarians, who would probably just leave empty beer cans all over the corridors....." Misato bit her lip. Ritsuko continued "so I figured I'd take a day off,come over here, and see if you're interested in having lunch on me? Of course, you'd probably want to shower first?..." 

"I'm right on it!" Misato practically leaped over the mounds of junk in her apartment. 

An hour later, the two women were sitting down in one of the sidewalk cafes that peppered New Ginza. The meal was pricey, but Ritsuko merely shrugged it off, saying that she had to do something with all the unused money she was accumulating. 

"How's your mother?" Misato asked, gulping down a large capuccino. 

"Naoko's fine. We're working together trying to finish the MAGI supercomputers on time for the handover." 

"You call her Naoko now?" 

"It's her name, Misato." Ritsuko replied flatly. 

"Yeah, but she's your mother," Misato protested. 

"And her name is Naoko, OK? Will you let me finish?" Ritsuko asked with some hint of irritation in her voice. 

"Anyway, finish the MAGI? What do you mean?" asked Misato. 

"Mother... Naoko is a genius, it's like, she's going to do five breakthroughs before breakfast, everyday! We're leaving the other MAGI development teams worldwide in the dust! In fact, at this rate, Gehirn would probably just hand the entire process over to us." 

"Sounds like you're proud of her," Misato said. 

"She's a great scientist." Ritsuko said, deadpan. 

"Hey Ritsuko.." 

"What?" 

"What will you do after the handover? What's going to happen to Gehirn Labs?" 

Ritsuko smiled, one of those thin-lipped, almost evil ones that made Misato nervous. "We'll be around." 

"How's your head now?" asked Misato. 

"Misato, that was almost a year ago! I'm fine, really!" 

"Good to hear, cause when we find that bitch..." 

Ritsuko only shook her head. 

"You won't. You never will" 

"Eh? Why?" 

Ritsuko took out a cigarette from her purse. Biting hard on the filter, she lit it with a coin-sized electric lighter, just one of the side applications of Gehirn research. She took deep puffs, blowing out the smoke out of her nostrils. Misato knew her well enough to understand that the action was a signal she wasn't going to talk about it. 

"Misato.." 

"Yeah?" 

"Looking forward to graduation? Still going to join NERV?" 

She set her coffee cup down, a firm resolve reflecting from her eyes. "Yes. I've asked for a battle shift position too." 

Ritsuko bowed her head sadly, a mixture of sadness and pity evident in her expression.She bit harder on her cigarette. 

"Gee, Ritsuko, you look like I told you I have cancer! Cheer up! It's not like I'm signing up to pilot an Eva!" she jovially said, a hand reaching out to give her friend a reassuring pat. 

In a small voice, barely audible even to herself, Ritsuko sighed out " I tried...", then resignedly smiled. There was one other thing to ask, though. 

"About your apartment, Misato" 

"What about it?" 

"I didn't see Kaji-kun's clothes lying around." 

It was now Misato's turn to hang her head low, strands of her hair slipped forward as she bowed her head, hiding part of her face from view. "I had him leave, permanently." She brought her cup to her lips, then drained the coffee residues from the bottom of the cup. "Neh, I think I should order a beer," she continued. 

"No you don't." Ritsuko hissed. She's not going to let Misato start one of her binges again. 

"Found proof of philandering?" Ritsuko probed. 

"No. I just told him to go."   
"You're a strange woman, Katsuragi Misato." Ritsuko gave up. Her pager beeped inside her blouse pocket. She fished out the credit-card thin device. She'd insisted on some measure of privacy, leaving behind her satellite phones, laptops and even her usual datapad, but her superiors were aghast at having one of their lead scientists incommunicado even for a day. As she checked her pager, she stood up, handing Misato a wad of fresh Yen notes out of her handbag. "Could you, please?" she asked. "Naoko says its urgent. Tell the waitress the balance is her tip." 

"Sure, Ritsuko," Misato said. "I'll see you around?" 

As Ritsuko hurriedly flagged down a cab, she turned to Misato. "Sooner than you could imagine." 

_I couldn't even convince her not to join,_ thought Ritsuko sadly. She worried would happen when she finds out. She had wanted to tell her about the merger, top secrets be damned. It was the honest thing to do, she kept telling herself as she paced up and down the aisles of the train on the way here. But she couldn't. She had adjusted too fast to the culture of secrecy at Gehirn. 

On the positive side, it would be interesting, to say the least, to be able to order her around. 

**Madripoor**

He dodged the thrown knife with ease, then lunged forward, his bare fist connecting with his opponent's jaw. The other man took it square in the jaw, spitting out blood as he fell, spinning like a dying top, before his back of his head struck tar with a most satisfactory thud that echoed through the stinking Madripoor alley. 

"Who's up for an asskicking?!" Patch yelled, as the other three men warily circling him, the man he just decked lying just outside the circle.One man rushed in, trying to deck his jaw. He brought one hand up, trying to deflect the fist but failing, catching the right hook with his left cheek. He rolled a little with the punch, stinging a little from the blow, as the man who punched him yelled out from surprise and pain. It hurt enough to punch someone with a naturally hard head like Patch, but when that hard head is plated with adamantium, the world's hardest alloy, it hurt bad. Regainin his balance, Patch threw his body at the third man in a diving tackle. He managed to jump out of the way, cursing in Indonesian as Patch immediately tried to land on his feet and spin around. When he had managed to turn around, he found himself facing the wicked glint of a switchblade. He took a fighting stance, facing the knifeman, as the man that tried to punch him staggered into position, trying to flank him. He noted that the third man was hanging back, probably letting the other two soften him up. "C'mon, three to one, I promise I won't kick your asses too hard," he sneered, trying to taunt his opponents into making a mistake. 

The knifeman rushed him, rapidly thrusting the air in front of him as his accomplice tried to deliver a flying kick to Patch's midsection. He made a low lunge, going after the knifeman's legs. He wasn't expecting this, and as Patch took him down, he delivered several hard, heavy punches to his opponent's face. He was about to deliver another one when he felt rough arms grab him from behind, a thick and heavy arm snaking around his neck. Retching at the smell and taste of the sweaty arm, he was put into a full nelson lock. Struggling to find leverage, he was surprised how difficult it was for him to simply break from the hold with brute force. Yet another sign of old age. At least, the knifeman still hasn't gotten up. 

"Game Over," he said, a little bit too smugly perhaps for a man caught in a headlock, the air rapidly being squeezed out of him. The third man approached them now at a fast walk, stepping over his two unconscious mates, to pull out a slim pistol out of his torn, faded jeans pocket. As his mate yelled at him to shoot Patch, he quickly made his way until they were within arm's reach, then stopped, raising his gun to Patch's forehead. 

Then everything went according to plan. 

He pulled the trigger, showering Patch's face with blood, brains and other viscera. The dead man dropped instantly. Patch kicked the body for good measure. 

"Kaji, you overdramatic asshole," Logan growled, wiping something he doesn't want to identify off his face. "You could have just told him to let go," Kaji only shrugged nonchalantly, putting his gun back in his pocket. "Never liked him anyway," he said, scratching his permanent stubble. "Besides, we've got one cultist each. Fair division of spoils, eh?" Patch just snarled, trying to get the stench of blood and gunpowder out of his enhanced senses. Nearby he could hear a rat skittering closer in the shadows, waiting for the live humans to leave so it can help itself to the dead one. "You're a good man to have in a fight, Patch" Kaji said, as he used something that looked like string, but smelled like metal, to tie the knifeman's hands together. 

"What are you going to do with that sack of shit?" Patch asked warily. "Same as you, I guess," Kaji said nonchalantly. "Except I already know what I want to," he said calmly, but Patch knew better. There was an undertone of rage underneath that nonchalance. "Murderin' ain't my style, bub," Patch said in a low growl."Little bird says your interest with 'em," pointing to the dead man, "s'more than professional." 

Kaji's cool exterior cracked a little. Just a little. He stood himself up to his full height, arms akimbo. The gun made a bulge in his jeans, but Patch knew that it wasn't because he was happy to see him. "Let's just say, Patch, that some of the folks these people want to murder...." 

"Girlfriend, huh?" Patch said, grinning despite himself. He could so easily tell with young people nowadays. There's always some cracking of the voice at the higher registers when people try to deny that part of their lives. Even with mister supercool "freelance reporter" here. 

"Ex." Kaji knelt, then with some effort, slung his captive over his shoulder."You won't be seeing these little problems in your back yard very soon now," remarked Kaji. 

"Oh?" 

"Big fish will be moving to MY back yard. Knifing a few drunk techs over here's not worth it," Kaji said. Staggering a little under the weight, he carried the man, taking steady steps as he made his way out the alley, the locals not batting an eyelash at the sight. When in Madripoor's Lowtown, the saying goes, you won't see anything you're not supposed to see. 

Some time later, with his captive safely locked up in the cellar of the Princess Bar, with Jessica Drew asking the man a few questions, Logan made his way up the stairs, remembering to put the Patch persona's eyepatch back on. Patch closed the door behind him, making his way from the back room of O'Donnell's bar to the main area where all the action was. The sight that greeted him was becoming familiar, but he still didn't like the clientele nowadays. 

Everywhere he looked, he saw beige uniforms. At the bar, at the tables, beige uniforms dancing with other beige uniforms to the beats of the Filipino jazz band on the floor. A smattering of locals, and some the diehard clientele defiantly kept the colour of the place from turning fully beige. Small mercies count nowadays, with all the NERV personnel flocking here from their strange windowless skyscrapers, the place was losing charm fast. 

Right now, the main supplier of charm in Madripoor's Lowtown, O'Donnell himself was beckoning him closer with that look in his eyes. 

Sliding himself onto his usual stool, the one that no one in the whole of Madripoor dared to sit on, Logan wordlessly picked up the shot of Jack Daniels that O'Donnell slid across the bar to him. O'Donnell came up to him, drawing his face closer, his own blue eyes reflecting in Patch's brown one. 

"Well, Patch? Who're the sad sods wanting to pump sarin gas in here?", he asked. 

"Alien-worshipping cult, looks like.With all these _customers,_ " hissed Patch " over here, with no fancy-schmancy security systems, all drunk stupid in here, too big a chance to miss." 

"Now why the hell would..." 

"Well, way's I see it, if those wackoes worship Angels, and _these_ assholes " said Patch, waving a hand in the general direction of the uniforms, "want to kill them all the minute they come down from God's own Heaven," 

"I get the idea, Patch," O'Donnell said.   
"So still think them opening shop here's such a good idea?" Patch asked, with just a little touch of sarcasm thrown O'Donnell's way. Although it was true that he was part owner of the Princess Bar, it would be bad business not to let the uniforms in. Besides, what would the partner say about him playing bouncer, deciding who stays and goes? 

A loud, brash voice interrupted them. 

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen, Kaji Ryoji, freelance newsman, photographer and all-round nice guy, in the house, free drinks on the pretty ladies out of uniform!" 

Logan could hear O'Donnell groaning. There were no women out of uniform in here tonight. There was Jessica, but she's downstairs. 

"Sod," muttered O'Donnell, as Kaji approached the bar. Patch grunted an affirmation of the opinion. Kaji had managed to change his clothes in the meantime, sporting his now-trademark blue long sleeved shirt with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows, the collar button perpetually unclosed. A red tie, stained with soya sauce and sweat, hangs limply from his neck. His stubble gave him a permament blue tinge to his strong square jaws. He strode with the easy confidence, or perhaps reckless abandon, of a man who totally felt at home with his surroundings. An old Leica camera hung from his neck. His bedroom eyes scanned the bar for his target. He made his way to the bar, right up to where Patch sat, then nonchalantly stood there, leaning over to O'Donnell, while his arm made the move he had practiced on countless women, to end up around the back of Patch's neck. He was in half a mind to break it. 

"Gimme my Yebisu, O'Donnell, one nice cold jug of it" Kaji casually said. As the harried barkeeper stepped back to find the Japanese beer, Kaji turned to Patch. Bringing his face close to Patch's ear, he whispered unnnecessarily. This close, his very breathing was like the roaring of a tornado to Logan's sensitive ears. 

"You always this grouchy, Patch?" 

"Only when people annoy me," he replied, raising his glass to his lips, then suddenly stopped. 

"You didn't, did you?" Asked Logan, some consternation in his voice. He had hoped that a few words would deter the kid from cold-blooded murder, but if not ... 

Kaji smiled, as if amused by the antics of a five-year old. "Why bother? The wise fisherman throws back the little ones." 

Logan growled acknowledgement. "Yer done with your .. story?" he asked ,a little hostility deliberately shown at the last word. 

"Why of course! My editors would be pleased, " Kaji said, still keeping up an air of casual coolness. Both men knew they weren't talking about stories. There was going to be an exchange, Kaji's information now for Logan's help earlier, and Kaji was here to deliver. 

"About the off-record bits?" .. Logan asked, testily, his good eye squinting as a glint of light reflecting from somebody's wristwatch shone on his face. 

"They're the real deal all right," Kaji said, his body hunching slightly, "but they don't know they're puppets in somebody else's show." 

Logan grunted, indicating to Kaji to continue. 

"These people are supposed to get something, from some people," Kaji said, a hand waving in the general direction of the uniforms, "for a third party, with only the mystery party knowing what the hell it is," he continued "Looks like these uniforms have something somebody wants back." 

"Back?" asked Logan, trying to fish for more information. 

"That's what my sources said," 

"Pretty sure your Deep Throat was a little bit more generous that that, eh?" probed Logan, his eye glancing sideways in a mean look in Kaji's general direction. 

"He wasn't." 

"You suck at lying, junior" 

"Main reason I'm in news, not politics," Kaji sighed theatrically. "Anyway, Patch, a newsman follows the news, and all the big news won't be round here anymore, so I'll leave you alone down here. You won't miss me will you?" 

O'Donnell came back, carrying a full jug of the Yebisu beer. "Why the hell do you always want to drink the stuff I keep in the back?" he grumbled in irritation, setting down the jug and an empty glass. 

"Join me?" asked Kaji, pointing to the jug. 

"Ain't turning down free beer," Logan said, as O'Donnel went off to deal with a uniform demanding one of those triple layerd European cocktails. 

"Hey Patch?" Kaji asked, trying to sound nonchalant. 

Logan turned his good eye on Kaji. "What?" 

"Ever heard of an outfit called SEELE?" 

"Nope.Why?" 

"Just following a lead on another story," Kaji said, still maintaining his cool facade. Logan could smell the sweat as it broke under his collar. It was more than sweat. It was the smell of fear. It was the smell of someone realizing he kew too much. 


	4. Reprisal 0:4 Year One

**Tokyo 03**

"Special Government train number three departing Shin-Miyashita station in two minutes, fifteen seconds," announced the female voice, lilting, melodious, throughout the station. Designed to sound perfectly accentless in both English and Japanese, the announcer's voice was nothing more to Misato than a malevolently pleasant computer voice. 

Misato heard that same voice everywhere in this city. It was creepy. The same voice announced the arrival and departure of trains, the same voice read out the weather on the local radio, the very same voice kept intoning "please cross now" over and over again at the pedestrian crossings. It was almost as if the voice belonged to the city itself. 

She took a glance around. The highrise buildings downtown, all made of specially reinforced concrete, their windows made from bulletproof Lexan. She had seen some of the complex gearing system that actually allowed these buildings to be lowered underground, out of harm's way. Scattered among the office buildings and a few apartments were the armament buildings. Anyone living here long enough can tell how they stand out among the glass and steel of the fortress city. Armament buildings have no residents, no workers. They merely stand there in silent vigil, awaiting the day that they will be used in battle. On that day, they will shed their windowless, monolitihic facades and reveal the weapons stored within. Laser cannons, missile racks, indeed, some armament buildings were little more than gigantic landmines, designed to detonate and take away any nearby attacker. 

She tried to take a look beyond the skyline, past the city limits where new aparment buildings were fast taking root all around in the green hills of Kanto Prefecture. While few people actually wanted to live inside a city designed to be a battlefield, they would, paradoxically, feel safe to live near so many instruments of mass destruction. 

She could see her own apartment building starting to take shape in the hills. Between the house payments, the car payments and the rent, she was much like other working people, perpetually broke. But she was, in many ways, lucky to be just another working stiff. While she was ready to accept a millitary life of privations and hardship in NERV, she was happy with her working life the way it is now. Sometimes, she almost forgot her millitary background. In fact, if it wasn't for the red service jacket she was wearing, there would be nothing to suggest to the casual observer that she was different from the other people, technicians, administrators and some scientists waiting for Government train number three. Her work, for now was pleasantly dull. 

She didn't feel that way when she first came here, though. 

There she was, in her dress uniform with the other officer cadets, waiting to receive her commission. She had felt silly wearing the outfit, no matter how many times everyone else told her how distinguished, even beautiful she appeared while wearing it. How long has it been, she wondered then, since the last time she wore a skirt that was past her knees? And there she was, standing in line with the other women officer cadets, wearing a black skirt that fell down all the way to her ankles. Her waistcoat was black too, with a stiff Mandarin collar she swore was made out of steel. Not only that, it was a total bitch making sure all her insignia, ribbons and decorations were put in the right places. The accursed thing was heavy, and to make it worse, she had to wear a tunic underneath it too. 

But the discomfort did little to prevent her from feeling proud that day. It was her first day in Tokyo 03, the fortress city. She had gotten here along with the other cadets, just a few hours ago in the back of a three-tonner. Between the hustle and bustle she didn't get much of a chance to explore. She wondered then, what this place was. It was humongous, if impersonal. It was a gigantic hall, that she suspected was underground. It was bare of almost all furnishings except for the review stand where all the high muckymucks sat. There were many people on that stand she couldn't recognize, and she can tell by the looks in everybody else's eyes, that they, too, were dumbfounded. 

Still, she had felt ten feet tall that day. She could see Donna, a few ranks behind her, out the corner of her eyes. Then there was Syazlin from Malaysia beside her, all smiling inside underneath the serious parade expressions. There were many other officer cadets she couldn't recognize, either from the other universities, or from other countries. 

As she stood there in line, she paid little attention to the dull speeches. Then it was the turn of the chairman of the UN supervision committee to speak, some old German man, Keel something. He dropped a bombshell, and it took the ranks every last iota of discipline not to let out a collective gasp. 

First of all was the announcement of the Gehirn merger. No, not just a merger, it was a takeover, like a little worm swallowing a python. The scientists from Gehirn were appointed to the major posts in the new, merged organisation. Even the agency's new commander and subcommander weren't millitary men, but senior scientists from the old Gehirn. Commander Ikari and Subcommander Fuyutsuki. If that wasn't crushing enough, the restrictions that were placed on the Tactical Division of NERV, as its armed branch was to be called, effectively ruled out much of a career for the assembled cadets. They were expected to perform their duties to the satisfaction of the scientists. It was crushing for many, perhaps all of them. However, in Misato's case, her commitment to NERV was more than simply a career orientation. It was a personal matter of vengeance. She had thought, then, how Ritsuko must be laughing her head off somewhere. Damn the woman. 

After the parade, there was the worst part, or the best part. It was time for the new officers to open the envelopes. Each man and woman has previously been handed an assignment envelope that would determine their immediate future. All around her, she saw whoops of joy, or a groan of dismay when someone got a bad assignment. She walked over to Donna, who was reading her assignment orders, a serious look on her face, one hand holding the piece of paper, the other stroking her chin thoughtfully. 

"Well, what'd you get?" Misato asked cheerfully. 

"Observer corps. I've got this radar post in Canada I have to report to in a week," she said, a smile slowly coming to her face. "Possible promotion to Captain in two years. Not bad, isn't it, Misato?" she finished, brightly. 

"I bet you it's somewhere in the Arctic," she replied, sarcastically. 

"Who cares? When I make Captain, I'll just ask for a transfer. We've got observation posts EVERYWHERE, remember?" Donna replied, still not realizing the magnitude of the assignment. She pointed a finger at the unopened envelope in Misato's hand. "When are you going to open that?", Donna asked, curious. 

"Hey! Where'd they send you two off?" asked a cheerful voice from behind both women. It was Kei, excitedly waving around her assignment orders. "What did you get?" asked Donna. "Madripoor!" Kei excitedly shrieked. "I'm in charge of the N2 silo operations! What about you two?" she asked. 

"Well, I've got Canada, and scaredycat here's too scared to read hers," Donna replied cheerfully, pointing her finger at Misato for Kei's benefit. 

Misato gave up. "All right, all right! Gee, you two girls are more excited about this than I am!" she said, mild exasperation in her voice, as her slender fingers found a grip and tore the envelope open. Inside was a sheet of paper, the assignment orders printed out on a bad dot matrix printer. Her eyes narrowed as she read the English orders, then, as if to confirm that there has been a terrible, terrible mistake, she read the Japanese translation as well. 

Her friends noticed the sudden change in Misato's stance, her shoulders suddenly dropping, and the light of anger building up in her eyes. "Misato ?What's wrong? " asked Donna. 

"I asked for a battle shift position," Misato snarled, her hands curling into fists, crushing the sheet of paper. 

"What did you get?" asked both women simultaneously. 

"Investigations.. I'm..I'm an MP," Misato said, contemptuously spitting out the words as both Donna and Kei stood in slack jawed surprise bordering on horror. 

"But you scored highest on the Weapons Systems tests! Nationwide!" Kei asked, refusing to believe her ears. 

Misato sighed slowly in resignation. Turning to her friends, she put a brave smile on "Well, I guess I'd better find Ritsuko and tell her the good news," and then she turned and walked away. 

The high-pitched whine of the electric train broke her from her reverie. She joined the surging crowd that anxiously lined up behind the yellow safety lines, her arms protectively crossed, and eyes keeping a wary vigil for any perverts trying to sneak a hand under the black lycra of her miniskirt. The doors opened, and she stepped inside, taking a comfortable position at the back of the train. The doors gave the customary beeps and closed, and with a jolt, it made its way along the tracks to the complex tunnel systems that lead to the Geofront. 

"Such a shitty little town," Patch mumbled to himself. There's hardly any people on the streets. There are no stray dogs wandering the alleys. Half the buildings here have no doors, no windows, no vents, no means of entry or exit. The asphalt on the streets are black, unfaded by the sun or traffic. The sun's too bright, too hot for some reason. Maybe all the metal in this town's reflecting sunlight and heat, he thought. The trees downtown are almost all fake. The endless pounding of construction work in the distance is the only sign of activity. There are yellow and black danger stripes everywhere, marking great empty squares in the streets and plazas.Probably emergency helipads or something, he thought. 

This city is like a scar. A well-planned, symmetrical, architecturally splendid scar, but one nonetheless. Concrete cancer in the bright green countryside, he thought as he reached a pedestrian crossing, its light just turned red, even though there's no traffic visible as far as the eye can see. Unheeding the red light , he placed a foot on the curb, and was about to cross when the voice startled him. 

"For your own safety,please wait until the signal light turns green before crossing," said the voice, in English, Japanese and a few other languages. It was a pleasant female voice, computer generated, the same one he'd heard a few times before in this city. He quickly took a glance either way. There was no traffic. He put his foot down on the curb again. As soon as he set his weight down on the asphalt, the computer voice came again, this time slightly louder, more urgent. It annoyed him. Snarling, he quickly drew out his claws from both hands, each almost a foot long, razor sharp and made out of adamantium, the hardest metal on earth. He whirled around, sizing up the enemy. The voice came from the crossing sign on his side of the street. Good. He swung wildly, his claws slicing the aluminium pole with ease, the crossing sign fell to the ground and smashed into pieces, sparks flying briefly from it. He contemptuously kicked the damned box, then crossed the street. For good measure, he kicked over several garbage bins, all almost empty, once he crossed the street. 

Shitty little artificial city, he grumbled under his breath as he made his way to the train station. His uncovered eye widened at the sight of several hundred people all waiting at the lobby, while armed guards blocked the way to the platform. He made his way, unhurried to the lobby,pushing his way past several sweaty bodies. He grabbed someone at random. 

"What's going on?" he asked, gruffly. 

"Oh, we're just waiting for the NERV people to board their train. Happens everyday," said the schoolboy. He took a glance at the platform past the guards. He saw about fifty people, some in civilian clothes, some in the beige uniforms he found so annoying, and one woman in a colourful red jacket that stood out from the drab clothes of the others. She was nice to look at, compared to the other people she's standing with. 

He saw the lot of them board their special train and leave. Good riddance, he thought. Were there no end to annoyances in this city? The guards opened the barred platform gates, and the crowd poured through, hoping to catch the next normal train before the next scheduled special government train. 

This place is sad, Logan thought. 

This place is huge, Misato thought. It has been almost a year since she started working in the Geofront, and it still continues to awe her with its sheer size. The train now no longer runs on the tracks, instead, clamps hold it securely along the thick steel cable running from the entrance tunnel to the ground. 

The Geofront is a huge spherical cavern almost 10 kilometers in radius. Ritsuko told her it was more a natural structure that was filled in with soil, than a man-made area. Sunlight streamed in through several windows in the roof, in addition, powerful lamps affixed to the roof lit the huge cavern. Among other things, the roof held the complex gearing system that would bring the skyscrapers of Tokyo-3 to relative safety underground. 

Here was the heart of her agency. She looked out the window to the Pyramid, her headquarters building. Surrounding it was lush greenery, and even pine trees. She was sure they were artificial, but Ritsuko did mention that they were trying to grow natural vegetation underground, with some success, so she couldn't really be sure. An artificial lake, large enough to house a small destroyer anchored in the middle lay in front of the pyramid. The sight was mind-boggling, and sometimes, it was kind of like the highlight of her day. 

It took a while to find her office. She was always getting lost in the complex. The Geofront itself is huge, but the pyramid itself, including the Central Dogma, is a confusing maze of empty corridors, storage areas, tunnels, and many other things she never bothers to find out what they really are. Sometimes, she wondered about the sanity of the Gehirn scientists and engineers who designed this madhouse. Cursing at the fifteen minutes lost in the service corridors, she arrrived at her office. A swipe of her ID card opened the door, turned on the lights and activated the air conditioning system. She closed the door behind her. Her office was neat as always, reports, disks, and miscellaneous paperwork sitting on their allocated places on her desk. She had never made any conscious effort to keep the place neat, but this place continued to be the total opposite of her rented apartment. 

She sat down, unlocked a drawer, and took out her gun. She reloaded her service automatic. Then her eyes caught a glimpse of the wall clock. She cursed briefly. It was almost time for the boring part of today's duties. She locked her door and began to undress, throwing her clothes into a closet. Grabbing the standard beige uniform, she hurriedly put it on, then checked and rechecked to make sure all her badges and insignia and her MP armband was properly in place. Then like a horse bolting the stable, she ran out of her office, racing towards the nearest elevator.   


"Shit! You're almost late!" shouted Eric. "Hurry up! They're almost here!" he said, slight panic in his voice. Misato quickly took her place alongside the door, then promptly assumed the ready position, still puffing slightly from the rushing she did to get here. "How long till they get here?" she asked, hurriedly. "Anytime soon," Eric said. "Now would you please shut up? If the Commander saw us breaking ranks.."   


She shut up. She was lucky enough to manage to catch her breath when they turned the corner and walked straight down the corridor. At their approach, both the MP's smartly saluted. Commander Ikari and Chairman Lorenz didn't even bother to move their eyes in Misato's direction. Subcommander Fuyutsuki smiled briefly, and the other members of the supervision committee merely grunted acknowledgement at her, as they walked past her and into the meeting room. 

The door automatically shut itself with a heavy thud. Misato relaxed slightly. She had always wondered what went on in those meetings with the supervision committee. If only she were a fly on the wall... 

No sooner than the five members of committee sat down, did they turn an accusing look at Commander Ikari, who merely sat there coldly, his face hidden behind steepled hands, his lips closed tight. Then they shifted their gaze to Subcommander Fuyutsuki. The former biology professor shifted a little under the withering gaze, but still maintaned his composure enough to address the five men.   


"Gentlemen..Chairman Lorenz," Fuyutsuki began to speak. 

"The Lance of Longinus," Kihl Lorenz said, interrupting Fuyutsuki. "What measures have you taken to recover the Lance?" 

"Remember. The Lance remains the only known object that can harm an Angel," said the committee member representing France. 

"Gentlemen, the Lance remains lost somewhere in the Southern Ocean, where the Ross Ice Shelf used to be. Efforts are being made to recover it, but..." 

"There is little we can do with this pittance you allocate to us," Ikari said, interrupting his deputy. His hands remained steepled, hiding his face. His cold, dead eyes stared back at Lorenz. 

"Millions and millions of people die of starvation in Africa," shouted the committee member representing Russia. "And you keep requesting more and more money. To what end ? You've already diverted more money away from the Complementation project.." 

"And the Complimentation project is the true destiny of man," said France. "Defeating the Angels serves no purpose unless Complementation happens." 

Ikari did not even flinch at the probing questions. He knew the stakes. Behind the mask of arrogant old men are five of the most megalomaniacal beings alive. He knew their goals, having served them for the past few years, gaining enough of their trust to gain his current poistion. They wanted nothing less than the quest for godhood; Complimentation was the path that the twelve, five of whom sit before him now, have decided to set for humanity. Whether humanity liked it or not. Their plans and wishes conflicted with his own plans, and he will not be caught out by them so early in the game. 

"Without the Lance of Longinus, we have no weapon that is proven to work," Ikari said again. "We cannot run before we walk. All the planning for Complimentation comes to nothing if we cannot defeat all seventeen Angels that are prophesized." continued Ikari, his voice still not betraying any emotion. 

"What of the efforts at replicating the Lance? Have you.. _diverted _efforts from that area as well? " asked the committee member representing the USA. Fuyutsuki rose to the challenge, the former academic speaking in firm, no-nonsense tones "we hardly knew the original properties of the Lance in the first place. That information was held back from us, unfortunately," his eyes narrowed, giving poison dagger stares at each of the committee member "and there seems to be efforts from certain quarters to sabotage our efforts," he continued. He could feel the temperature in the room rise. He saw the five fists clench simultaneously, while Ikari was doing his best no to give anything away to them. 

"I do not see why the Lance replica cannot be finished," said Lorenz. "You already have much of the needed raw materials. Enough adamantium for at least one miserable replica lance. Is that too much for humanity to ask of you?" 

There was no reply from the two highest officials of NERV. 

"The Japanese government is complaining that your footsoldiers are carrying weapons heavier than allowed under the treaty," remarked the member representing the USA. 

Ikari smirked, but the gesture remained hidden behind his hands. "Gentlemen, the two guards you saw as we came in have nothing to protect us with except handguns. Seeing that the Geofront's anti-terrorist systems are only twenty-seven percent complete...." he paused, waiting for the committee to grasp his words " a relatively determined band of assassins have a healthy chance of bursting into this.." Ikari spoke now in a bored monotone that suggested that he couldn't care less if what he said were to happen, " very meeting room and massacre the whole lot of us," he said, his voice subtly menacing. Fuyutsuki's eyes narrowed as he cast a sideways glance at the commander. What is he doing? he thought. Playing mindgames with the committee? 

"Germany will assume presidency of the Security Council next month. I will have them approve these additional requests of yours," Lorenz said, with no attempt to hide his growing contempt. "In the meantime, I suggest intensifying your efforts to either recover the original Lance, or produce a working replica," 

"Or else your tardiness will doom us all," said France, as all five committee members got up to leave. 

Misato barely managed to get her ears away from the metal sliding door before it opened with an angry hiss. Five pairs of eyes coldly bore through her as she stood there in the doorway, a slightly surprised expression on her face, while Eric was trying hard, very hard, to act like a guard. Thinking fast, she quickly stood at attention and saluted. "Sir! Lieutenant Katsuragi at your service!" she said, hoping to recover from a potential career-limiting move, as well as possible grounds for court-martial. "I will escort you to the main gates, sir!" she continued, to receive incredulous looks from the committee. 

"We do not need your help," said Chairman Lorenz. "We are familiar with the Geofront," said someone else. "Do not block the doorway, Lieutenant," said another one. She couldn't be sure which one was speaking, because her eyes were fixed on the sight of Fuyutsuki and Ikari staring right at her, with unkind looks on their faces. Sheepishly, she saluted and side-stepped, allowing the committee to pass. 

Fuyutsuki spoke as the door closed again. "I think we have them," a hint of satisfaction in his voice. 

Ikari grunted his agreement. "Without the Lance, we have some protection from them. They cannot start Complementation without it." Fuyutsuki nodded. "The replica Lance must not be built. But if we delay too long they will get restless again. They might even try to steal the adamantium again," Fuyutsuki said, gathering some papers and reports. "Another thing, Ikari," 

"Yes, Fuyutsuki-sensei?" Ikari said, disinterest rising in his voice. 

"Something has to be done about all these murders of our staff. It's bad for morale." 

"Indeed, Fuyutsuki. Take care of it, " Ikari said curtly, then got up and left, the two guards smartly saluting. Misato's heart almost stopped when she felt the burning stare of the commander go through her. But the moment passed and she sighed in relief as he wordlessly walked away, back to his office. If he wasn't going to do anything to her now, its' unlikely he ever would. There is salvation in insignificance. 

Bright sunshine. It got a little warm out on the streets, warmer than usual this afternoon, but that's okay in his book. He'd been to enough dim, dark places to appreciate bright sunshine. He lit up a cigarette, inhaling hard. Wonder what she's doing now, he thought. His foot tapped the ground, wistfully, he imagined that somewhere down there, she'd hear it. He enjoyed his cigarette, pausing once in a while to take a look at the few cars that passed by. A NERV supply truck roared past him at high speed towards one of the tunnels that led to the Geofront underneath. The rumbling of the truck masked the sound of heavy footsteps coming his way. 

A heavy hand landed hard on his shoulder, causing him to reflexively gasp and drop his cigarette. 

"Kaji... Long time no see," Patch said to the surprised Kaji. He recovered quickly, though. 

"Patch. A pleasure," Kaji said, hiding behind effected cheerful tones. 

"Thought I'd pay you a little visit, seeing how you mucky-mucked round Madripoor last time," 

"Why, of course, Patch! My home is your home," Kaji said, slight sarcasm heard in his voice. Logan fought the urge to deck him one square in the jaw. "So what brings you to the World Headquarters of the only global alien defence agency in the world?" 

"Business," Patch said, trying not to give away his plans. 

"So, you need me to give you a tour of this great city of ours?" Kaji asked, his trademark nonchalance grating like a rat trying to gnaw its way out of a wooden box. 

"Cut the bullshit. I need to find a neutral hole. And don't give me that innocent look. I know you know just what the hell a neutral hole is, so take me to one," Logan snarled. 

"Won't open till about six," Kaji said. 

"We'll wait," Logan simply replied.   
  



	5. Reprisal 0:5 Collusion of Souls

Reprisal 0:5 311/17  
  
"It's eight o'clock. Place should be jumping right about now," Kaji said with mild amusement as he opened the door for Patch. "After you, Patch." Logan cast him a sideways glance. He found the young man arrogant, untrustable and very much annoying. Very much like a younger version of himself.  
  
Logan stepped in, his hands almost reflexively thrust into the pockets of his leather jacket. It was warm in Tokyo-03, it always was, but he felt much more comfortable wearing it. Yet another force of habit, as he took a quick glance at the neutral hole.  
  
The concept was old, perhaps as old as the profession of spying itself. A neutral place where spies from opposing sides can gather without running the risks of getting killed in the line of duty. Important deals are negotiated, information exchanged and dirty deeds done, all without the hassle of obeying ideological imperatives. He had been to quite a few. Every major city had one, and judging by the size of this place's clientele, he'd been wrong about this city. It was quite important. There were intel and cointel people from almost every major agency, some he recognized, the few who recognized him cast an upraised eyebrow at him in recognition, but didn't do much else.  
  
"Impressive," he conceded to Kaji. This was some bar. It had the characteristics of the city outside, clean white tiles, bright lights, ceiling fans that suck up all the smoke and rancid stench of stale beer, an orderly set of tables, and a wide open layout that he suspected was there to keep everyone honest.  
  
There was some activity at a table, experience tells him someone's having a drinking contest.  
  
"Anything else I can help you with, Patch?" Kaji asked, seemingly anxious to leave all of a sudden at the sight of the drinking game. He can feel Kaji's body tense behind him, as if trying to brace himself for a familiar, yet horrifying sight.  
  
"Way past your bedtime, junior?" Patch asked cynically, keeping an eye at the drinking game going on. It was hard to make out what was happening, as the bodies of several men and women kept blocking his view of the proceedings. Kaji wordlessly turned and left, his pace growing faster every second. There seems to be something here that made him seriously uncomfotable. Patch merely shrugged, and made his way to the table where the drinking game was going on. Such things were rare in neutral holes. There was too much risk involved, and an active, alert mind was important in this kind of place.  
  
As he got closer, the small crowd surrounding the table got more and more excited, some roaring their support for the challenger. He got to the table, and pushed aside a few drunks who got too far into the spirit of the game. He saw emptied glasses and several bottles of beer on the table and tossed carelessly around the table. A man sat slumped on a chair, the last vestiges of consciousness about to flee him. He seems to be the challenger and about to go under, much to the disappointment of half the crowd.  
  
As for the champion, Patch's uncovered eye almost popped out of its socket.  
  
Misato didn't pay much attention to the one-eyed gentleman who just made his way to the table. She was more interested in seeing her opponent go under the table. Through hazy eyes and senses dulled by drink, she willed him to fall. Her hand held the freshly-filled mug of beer tightly, ready to down another glass. She can't remember how many she's had, but she's sure it's more than her opponent can stand. She was right. With a low groan, her opponent slid under the table, unconscious.  
  
Her free hand pumped the air in victory. "Iyeeaaaahaaaaaa!" she screamed triumphantly. "Misato Katsuragi still number one!" she yelled out as loudly as she can, flashing the V for victory sign to the audience, some of whom grumbled as they paid her their bets, stuffing the cash into her NERV beret. A loud belch escaped her, she wasn't feeling too good. Victory whoops left her lips, she was feeling on top of the world. She spat out a strand of hair that slid its way into her mouth.  
  
"What the hell is this all about?" Patch asked the woman next to him.  
  
"Oh, that's just Katsuragi's drinking game. She makes bets with any man who'd listen she can drink him under the table," said the woman. "She keeps this up, she can quit NERV and go pro," said another man who was also watching.  
  
"What happens if she loses?" Patch asked, slight curiousity taking over from good sense.  
  
"Well, winner gets to take her home," said the woman. "So far, she's had a lot of takers. You trying your luck, pal?" asked the woman.  
  
Patch grunted noncommitally, shrugging his shoulders.  
  
"You Mossad are all wimps! You can't drink, you can't even sneak past the Geofront tunnels, you suck! Hear me ?!!" Misato yelled at the unconscious man, kicking him in the ribs for effect. Her face was totally flushed and she was having trouble standing. She's going to suffer tomorrow. "C'mon, which big boy thinks he's got what it takes??!" she yelled, nearly hysterical,her hand clumsily grabbing the beer mug, sloshing its contents all around the table and floor. Beer spilled onto her miniskirt, running down her thighs and legs.  
  
Logan just stared indecisively at her. He still found it hard to believe. He looked at her long, blue-black hair, all clumped up in strands from sweat and spilled beer. Her hazel eyes were very much dilated and staring wide open at anyone and anything. Beer was all over her, spilled on her shirt, skirt, running down her chin and in her breath. Her red jacket lay in a crumpled heap on the floor. Logan's eyes stared at the jacket. Wasn't this the very same woman he saw at the station this morning? He ran his eyes up and down her body again, soaking up every detail, from the silver cross pendant she wore over her black shirt, to the way her chest rose up and down so fast with every breath she took, to the way her lycra miniskirt was being stretched from the indecent way she was standing, to the well- toned muscles of her legs and arms that told him she tried hard to keep in good physical condition, when she wasn't trying to self-destruct the way she is right now. And underneath the smell of her sweat and the various brands of beer she'd been drinking, there was the slightest undercurrent of lavender perfume.  
  
Winner gets to take her home, the thought went through his head in an endless loop. All it took was to drink her under the table. Anyone. Any man who could outdrink her, takes her home.  
  
"Set 'em up!" Patch yelled, to the cheers of the crowd. He really shouldn't be doing this, but he felt he could at least save her from herself, at least for tonight.  
  
"wh?" Misato asked, half-aware of the new challenger. She sat down, or rather crashed her body on the chair, raising her mug to her lips and taking great big gulps of the liquid, pausing at the end to gather her breath before slamming the empty mug on the table. It seemed to Logan that the contest was just a cover for her, that she really didn't care about winning or losing. He drank his own mug slowly, taking small sips and short pauses, knowing that time was on his side in the battle.  
  
The crowd knew it. There was hissing when they saw him take his time. A voice in the crowd demanded that he take two mugs for each of Misato's own. Misato herself just grabbed a new can of beer and began pouring its contents into her mug.  
  
"No problem," Patch told them, as he downed his glass. Misato was ignoring him now, mumbling incoherently about something, yelling hard at nothing at all before she took her drink. Her fist slammed the table, daring him to continue.  
  
He was halfway through his fourth glass when Misato fell down sideways with a thud onto the floor, her legs splayed halfway across her chair and the floor. Half the crowd groaned. He cast a long look at the unconscious woman , then the crowd. He saw a beige uniform in the crowd. "You," he growled , "this broad one of yours?" The uniform nodded.  
  
"Where do I take her? Barracks or something?" he asked, kneeling to lift the unconscious woman up and slinging her across his shoulder. She was lighter, and softer than he had anticipated. Her body limply hung from his shoulder, his arm wrapped around her slender waist for stability.  
  
It was quite a long walk to her apartment. "Three Eleven, Block Seventeen. Welcome home, girl," he softly said to the happily dreaming Misato. The door wasn't even locked. He took several staggering steps inside, gently laying her down to the large futon carelessly laid in the middle of the cluttered bedroom. The lights had turned on automatically, perhaps sensing the return of the owner. Boxes, some opened, some still sealed, were all over the floor. The kitchen reeked of undisposed garbage. What kind of woman was this Misato person he brought home? There were two laundry baskets with her clothes, one with the fresh clothes and one with the unclean ones. The basket with clean laundry was almost empty. He stood there over the sleeping woman, still unable to explain why is it he felt such a strong need to win her at the bar. He walked over to the fridge, and almost to no surprise, found it stacked with some half-eaten bento lunches, and stacks and stacks of beer cans.  
  
Misato stirred, her eyes opening slightly. The dim lights still hurt her eyes. But she recognized the ceiling as hers. It really shouldn't be spinning like that, maybe she should talk to Ritsuko about it, tell her to stop making the ceiling spin like that because it was making her dizzy. She turned her head, and saw a pair of legs. A man's legs. Her eyes weakly made out a face. She tried to smile weakly at him, but it was taking so much effort to move her lips. Why was there a man in her apartment?  
  
Because she had planned it, her last thought before she faded away in a white fog.  
  
"Father"  
  
"Father?' she whispered again, weaker this time.  
  
The words left her lips and went straight to Logan's sensitive ears. He closed the fridge and knelt over the woman, his hand brushing a lock of hair clear from her face. Her skin felt soft, just as her body had felt soft. Now his heart was going the same way. He intently stared at her, waiting for her to speak again.  
  
"You promised me we can go see the penguins," her last words, before falling silent again.  
  
Obviously delirious, as he kept his silent vigil over her. She dreamt of ice and snow and that horrible light. But there was no way he could know that just by looking at her peaceul form. He crashed into a sofa, and laid there for hours, half thinking half dreaming through a fitful sleep.  
  
He heard the scuffling noise of footsteps, waking him up, behind the door before the buzzing started. The buzzing continued non-stop, but Logan ignored it, paying attention to Misato instead. Misato slowly stirred awake, slowly, almost painfully crawling up into a sitting position, cradling her head in her hands. She shaked her head, wincing at the sweet pain. There was a long buzzing sound. She saw the man squatting across from her looking concerned. She smiled at him, glad to know he's real. She noticed that she wore the same clothes from yesterday.  
  
He had the chance, she had given him almost ten hours of chances, and he did nothing? she wondered to herself, a stab of pain disrupting the train of thought. Her ears were buzzing, probably from the hangover. Or maybe he did do something to her? Maybe it wasn't her that he wanted, but agency secrets? It was hard to remember with the incessant buzzing. He wasn't all that bad looking, so it didn't hurt so bad to lose to him. She'd planned on losing anyway. The buzzing sound stopped that train of thought too.  
  
She was now standing, barely, her body shaking as her legs still won't fully respond to her commands. The incessant buzzing was making everything difficult for her. The man watching her spoke. Each word was like the boom of a cannon in her ears.  
  
"Aren't you going to answer the doorbell?" Logan asked her.  
  
She made feeble efforts to walk to the door. Disgusted, Logan snorted with disapproval and walked to the door. The buzzing was annoying him as well. Almost ripping the door open, he snarled at the person who had been pressing the doorbell for almost five minutes without a pause. "Well? What do you want?!" he barked with irritation.  
  
Ritsuko was so surprised she almost jumped backwards, but she recovered quickly.  
  
"And you are?.." she asked, half-expecting the answer. Misato had been up to her games again.  
  
"Name's Logan, Ritsuko." Logan snarled at her in irritation. What kind of god damned fool would press a door buzzer for five minutes straight?  
  
"How'd you know my name?" Ritsuko asked incredulously, as Misato staggered to the doorway.  
  
"Yer famous, Doc," was the simple answer. If she didn't remember him from last year, he certainly wouldn't bother reminding her. Ritsuko bit her lip. What he said was true in a way, but it was still disconcerting for her to be recongnized by strangers. Biting her lip, she dug around in her skirt pockets, pulling out several strange gadgets before placing a bunch of keys in Logan's palm.  
  
"Her car keys," she said, deadpan. "Judging by her state, I'd rather trust a stranger with it than her."  
  
Logan grunted. Misato made her way to the doorway, leaning on the frame for support. "Hey Rit-chan," she slowly slurred, trying not to hurt her head by talking too loud, "How was Matsushiro?"  
  
Ritsuko was in no mood for conversation. Disdainfully running a hand through her blonde hair, she stared her right in the eyes. "You promised me you'd stop, Misato." she said , a little more sternly than usual. "I did, I just started again," Misato said, with a little tone of hurt.  
  
"One of these days, Katsuragi, you'll wind up so drunk you'll take Kaji home,"  
  
"Stop trying to be my mother, Ritsuko, I'm a grown woman."  
  
Ritsuko hissed slightly at the rebuke. Misato was too far gone to notice, but Logan heard it. He glanced at one woman, then the other, senses primed for the outbreak of hostilities. As his uncovered eye fell on Ritsuko,she returned the glance, her eyes were colder than he last remembered, but the intellect has grown stronger than the last time. Staring into Ritsuko's eyes were like facing the void itself. A steely gaze met hers.  
  
"I'm trusting you to look after her, Logan. You don't look like someone I'd like to meet in a dark alley, but that wasn't where you met Misato, did you? " she asked, her voice dripping sarcasm.  
  
"Cut the crap," was the hostile reply. The nerve of this woman. Is everyone involved with this agency an @#%$?  
  
Misato watched dumbly as her friend lit up a cigarette, bit hard on the filter and stomped off without saying another word.  
  
Logan closed the door, wordlessly watching as Misato ran to the bathroom to pray to the porcelain god. She was beautiful, and almost brutally honest, but he had wasted enough time with this woman. He had business to attend to in this city, and the more time he spent with her the longer it would take him to complete it. On the other hand, the Ritsuko woman was kind of right in a way. He was the one who put her under, he should at least keep an eye on her until the hangover finishes.  
  
He simply stood there in front of the door, his hand gripping the handle, uncertain whether to simply go or stay. A common question that he had faced many times before in his life. He opened the door and stepped out. Last night was interesting, he thought.  
  
He had barely walked thirty feet when Misato yelled at him to wait up. Huffing slightly, she pulled up to him, and grabbed his hand. "My watch says it's almost lunch time," she smiled. "I'll buy you lunch, it's the least the loser can do." Logan shrugged, noncommitally but deep inside, his heart leapt for joy against his will.  
  
"So what's your name? I'm Misato, Misato Katsuragi," she cheerfully asked. They walked side by side along one of the quiet, empty avenues of Tokyo 03. She wore blue jeans and a white top, her thick sneakers putting a slight spring in her step. She looked for all the world like any other carefree young woman out on the town, but her trademark jacket destroyed the illusion of innocence. Her stride was purposefule, disciplined even in such an innocent setting. The warm midday sun smiled on both of them, making her unpainted face glow with a thin layer of sweat.  
  
"Name's Logan. Folks call me Patch," Logan replied.  
  
"So what's with the pirate gear?"  
  
"Lazy eye." he lied through his teeth with casual ease.  
  
"You don't look as wasted as in your apartment," he asked.  
  
"Nausea pills.Stole some from the labs.They're the greatest!"  
  
He was rather surprised at the answer. "Don't tell me they've invented the cure for hangovers?"  
  
"Oh, no! I wish they'd hurry up and make one!" Misato replied, loudly. "It's one of those Gehirn inventions. Supposed to help our test pilots with nausea, but Ritsuko never bothers to finish the important stuff."  
  
Logan went slightly tense at the word "Gehirn". It was because of Gehirn that he came here, to look for clues to his past. The word was mentioned in one of the many American and Canadian top secret documents concerning the Weapon X project. It seemed to imply that Gehirn, whoever or whatever it was, had a hand in funding and even directing some of the research that permanently changed him. The Weapon X project took his memories. Took his humanity. Gave him an unbreakable adamantium plated skeleton. Made him what he was today.  
  
Gehirn owes him an explanation, minimum. From asking round with his lips and fists, and with some helpful hints from Katsuya in Tokyo 2, he discovered the connection with NERV. There were a few other things he had to discover first, such as:  
  
"Who's Gehirn?" Logan asked, trying hard to mask his interest, his eye carefully studying Misato's face for any sudden changes in expression that would indicate she's hiding something. He slowed down his pace, indirectly forcing Misato to slow down herself. There wasn't any change in her demeanour or expression.  
  
"Gehirn used to be a UN biotech research lab. Then they got merged with us, now they're our science division, " Misato said, carelessly. She knew she had to be more guarded regarding agency things, but she wasn't Ritsuko. With Ritsuko, everything had to be deniable, undocumented and need-to-know only. Even things that were now open secrets. She wondered sometimes about her supersecretive nature.  
  
"The blonde, Ritsuko..." Logan asked, cautiously. He still didn't understand the relationship between the two.  
  
"Oh, don't let her get to you," Misato said, more to herself than to him. "She's been an ice queen since birth." And a bitch ever since she joined Gehirn, she thought to herself. "Hey! There's the place I told you about!"  
  
It was a roadside noodle stall. It reminded him a little of many similar stalls in Madripoor's Lowtown. A tiny part of him went "figures".  
  
********  
  
Ritsuko leaned back in her chair, her lunch sitting half-eaten on her desk. She pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to stem back the rising headache. Her datapad lay on her lap, its screen showing the latest progress report on Project E. She suspected her office was making her sick. There had to be some malevolent microorganism in the air that always got to her whenever she stayed too long. That had to be the only logical conclusion.  
  
The illogical conclusion was that her dead mother's spirit still haunted her old office. The idea had sometimes come to her in the late nights, and reinforced by the superstitions of some of the Chinese staff, only to be immediately dismissed with self-directed scorn.  
  
"It's impossible, isn't it, Mother? Totally unscientific" she softly whispered, glancing at her computer terminal, connected to the MAGI supercomputers of the Geofront. Almost as impossible as the business with the Lance of Longinus. She headed the project to create a duplicate Lance. The supervision committee wants a duplicate lance built, but Ikari and Fuyutsuki kept finding ways to delay the project. She knew that there was some kind of game going on, but until she can gain more trust from them both, she was kept out of the loop. The original was somewhere in the Antartic Ocean and even with almost fifty surveying ships it was still too much like finding a needle in a haystack.  
  
Worst of all, her staff were being murdered. Her datapad showed the last report Dr. Kusumadewi ever filed , detailing the results of the stress tests on the adamantium slag, recommending that ultrasound waves be used to shape the metal. Before her were Dr Morton and Henderson. Her research staff now stood at half-strength. The murders were draining everyone's concentration, from the scientists, to the engineers, even to the uniformed. It was simply impossible to devote yourself fully to work when you could be the next person found dead in your own home. It even got to her sometimes. The murderd three were with Gehirn long before she herself joined. They knew her mother and couldn't stop singing praises of her ability as a scientist. She enjoyed hearing the praise.  
  
Cursing, she threw the datapad onto her desk. She hurriedly got up and left the office. Perhaps a walk around the Central Dogma. Or maybe she needed the fresh air of Tokyo-03. If she was lucky, it should be late afternoon. She didn't really trust her watch, and there was no natural way to tell the passage of time in the Geofront.  
  
It was almost dusk, and he couldn't believe that the two of them were talking almost the entire day. Misato was charming and an engaging conversationalist, so even though he wasn't planning to pump her for information, there were many fascinating things about her life that she just blurted out to him. He now knew she was an MP of sorts for NERV. He even found out why she wore that red jacket of hers so often.  
  
"Loophole in regulations," she told him. "If it so becomes necessary in the course of duty, the Number Four service jacket may be worn over any available clothing to identify the wearer as belonging to NERV," she said in semi offical tones, mockingly quoting the regulations. "And neither Commander Ikari or Subcommander Fuyutsuki care much about fixing minor regulations like that," she said, a twinkle in her eye.  
  
They climbed up the stairs to the third floor of the apartment block. As they both made it to the corridor, they saw a lone woman standing in front of Misato's door, quietly smoking a cigarette, hands buried inside a white lab coat when not flicking ash all over the corridor. Her head was bowed, as if very tired, or bored, or both. With her head bowed, it was apparent to both of them that her shock of blond hair hasn't been dyed in a while, betraying her natural dark brown roots. Hearing footsteps, Ritsuko turned her head towards Misato and Logan, smiling weakly in recognition.  
  
"Ritsuko...." Misato said, her voice trailing off. What, she wondered, was she doing here? She usually stays underground for days on end working.  
  
"Hello, Misato, you too, Logan," Ritsuko said. Misato walked up to her friend, sensing something wrong. Usually there'd be some rebuke at her bringing strange men home, or some sarcastic remark about her looks or behaviour. Ritsuko put out her cigarette. "Mind if I stay for dinner, Misato?? I'll cook for you both tonight" Ritsuko offered in a dead tone. Misato unlocked the door, gesturing to Logan to go in. She put a hand on Ritsuko's shoulder, feeling how limp her body was. It was strange, but they rarely touch. "What's wrong, Ritsuko? Did you just blow up a lab or something?" she asked, the humor forced. It was unnerving to see Ritsuko, usually so in control and arrogant, like this.  
  
"Everything. Nothing. Would you like tempura or something western?" Ritsuko replied dejectedly. Logan ignored the two and stepped inside. He leaned on one of the walls, waiting for Misato. He wouldn't freely admit it, even to himself, but it had been a good day to live.  
  
For Ritsuko, it would be a good day to die. Misato saw it, the red dot suddenly appearing between Ritsuko's shoulder blades, then slowly, inexorably made its way up to the base of her skull. She managed to cry out "sniper!" then she threw herself at Ritsuko, knocking the wind out her friend, just as the frustrated sniper shot a hole in the wall where Ritsuko stood. Misato tried to take a glance at the apartment building opposite her own, trying to find any trace of movement, but couldn't find any. She cursed under her breath, arms still wrapped around Ritsuko's waist. "Logan! No!" she yelled, as she saw him start to run towards her. "Call the Geofront! Number three on the speed dial! City police too!" Her heart began to race, and cold fear gripped her as she remembered that she had locked her gun away in her office.  
  
Three long seconds passed, as the two women huddled behind the safety of the wall. There was enough time for the sniper to reload.  
  
Logan burst through the open doorway, and he ran hard towards the staircase. "Logan ! NO!" Misato yelled, but he didn't listen. Misato wanted to go after him, but her duty was to make sure Ritsuko was safe. Logan ran and jumped, trying to draw fire towards him. Even if he did get hit, he'll get better, no such luck for the two women. He threw himself down the staircase, trying to make his way to the opposite block. Maybe he can catch the sniper trying to escape.  
  
Misato shook Ritsuko hard, trying to get her wits back. "Ritsuko! Ritsuko! I need your gun! Where is it?"  
  
"I..I don't carry one" Ritsuko whispered back, shaking from fear.  
  
God, no, we're dead, Misato thought. A brick wall was no protection from a sufficiently high-powered rifle. She saw her opened apartment door, thinking that if the two of them could crawl back inside, it would buy them a few precious seconds, maybe even enough for help to arrive. But they'd have to crawl almost five feet, and they would come into view again as they were in the doorway.  
  
Logan smelled his enemy on the blowing breeze. Same guy from Seoul. Which meant that he was long gone now. How he made it, he could never figure out. Perhaps teleportation? But he ran towards the opposite block anyway, his long strides being unchallenged by the enemy.  
  
Long gone, as expected, he thought. He seriously considered teleportation as his enemy's escape plan. His bit his lip in frustration, almost drawing blood. He wondered who the sniper was after this time. Was he after him? Or Misato, or Ritsuko? The equation had been altered too much now.  
  
"Next time, bub," he snarled at no-one in particular.  
  
***********  
  
It took Misato and Ritsuko quite an effort to get rid of the Japanese police. Logan begrudgingly gave them credit, for they certainly knew how to handle nosey cops. Neither of them had to pull rank or throw hissy fits. Classic misdirection and just enough information to keep the cops happy. Logan noted Ritsuko's ability to stretch, manipulate and bend the truth. Misato tried, of course, but that just wasn't her strong suit.  
  
Several armed, uniformed NERV guards stood outside Misato's door. Inside the three of them sat down to a hastily cooked meal of vegetable and shrimp tempura that Ritsuko made. She had to have the ingredients brought in by one of the guards, thanks to Misato's inability to keep her own pantry stocked.  
  
"I still say we get to the Geofront now," Ritsuko protested.  
  
"Too dark," Misato said, seriously. "Too many chances we get ambushed before we can make it to Gate 3"  
  
Logan quietly chewed his food, observing the two.  
  
"So what? We can have an escort, travel in an armored car...." Ritsuko's voice trailed off as Misato made the signal for her to stop, her mouth still busy chewing large chunks of shrimp.  
  
"I have the authority to call Tactical here!" Ritsuko weakly protested to no effect.  
  
"What would the Commander say if I let the Chief Scientist-Designate get killed on my watch?" Misato asked.  
  
Ritsuko's eyes went wide. "That's classified!" she hissed, ignoring Logan who was giving her a creepy one-eyed stare.  
  
"Besides, I'd like to see him return to the scene of the crime," Misato said, calmly, glancing toward the loaded service automatic on the table. She turned to Logan. "You're coming along with us tomorrow morning too, Logan. Your own safety, you understand," she smiled reassuringly at him.  
  
"Look," he said, carefully picking out his words, "I'm just a bar owner from Madripoor. Don't you think putting me underground is a bit much for a security precaution?"  
  
Misato replied sternly, projecting her authority. "You like to live? Trust me, and you get to live. Okay?" She leaned over the table, and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. It was careless kiss, it was done without much thought, but Logan rather enjoyed it. "Besides," she said, returning to her seated position, "You're too fun a person for me to let die," she smiled brightly.  
  
Ritsuko peered at the two over her glasses, biting her lip. She said nothing.  
  
********  
  
"Well?"  
  
"That friend of hers saved her."  
  
"Misato? The one who's always drunk?"  
  
"Wolverine was there too. I don't know what he was doing there."  
  
"You've failed twice now. First you failed to get him in Seoul. Now Ritsuko still lives. And we still don't have the adamantium"  
  
"I apologize"  
  
"Angels will start appearing soon. What if they manage to complete the replica Lance by then? What would you say to God?  
  
Do you want them to kill His messengers?"  
  
"We can still blow up the Project E labs. Force-feedback the subsection generators, and it should take out three floors,"  
  
"Ikari will just clear the rubble and continue. We must have that adamantium in our hands, it's the only way to be sure!"  
  
A third voice interrupted.  
  
"Can't we just leave Wolverine alone? Let him find out his past. If we left him alone, he'd probably leave us alone too.He doesn't care what happens when the Angels return. Let him have what he wants, shake a few scientists around and we'll both be happy."  
  
A sneer of disdain greeted the suggestion.  
  
"You are a fool, Kaji Ryoji.." 


	6. Reprisal 0:6 Faith against Dogma

Reprisal 0:6  
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
War Room   
  
"MAGI Casper,"   
"MAGI Balthasar"   
"MAGI Melchior"   
  
"Look at them, Ritsuko," her mother had told her that night. Her hands indicated with a wave the huge metal casings that housed the MAGI supercomputers as they were lowered into the floor of the War Room. "Three organic neural networks, working independently yet seeking consensus.Natural chaotic, illogical processes trying to create order."   
  
"Imprinted with my brain patterns as a mother," Naoko said, glancing at the Melchior subsystem   
  
"Scientist," Ritsuko saw the last of the Balthasar subsystem disappear into the floor.   
  
"and woman," Naoko finished, as techs placed floorboards over the sunken Casper subsystem.   
  
"Congratulations, mother. And everything finished one day before the merger too," Ritsuko had said to Naoko then. "Well, I'm going to pay Misato a visit before her big day tomorrow," Ritsuko smiled happily.   
  
"All right. I have some last calibrations to do here," Naoko said. Her last words to her daughter.   
  
Four hours later, Ritsuko stood on the floor of the War Room alone, softly weeping over a chalk outline of a human form. Naoko had jumped almost forty feet to her death. There were no witnesses. Ritsuko remembered Ikari Gendo was uncharacteristically furious then.   
  
Even as her grandmother was making her way from Fukushima to claim the body, Ritsuko was in her mother's office, clearing away her personal effects, while glancing at some of her old files. Clearing away the personal effects took only a few minutes. There was only that photo of Naoko, Ritsuko and Ikari taken a few months back.   
  
Glancing at old files took a little more time.   
  
She was in Naoko's office until dawn, when she discovered the old reports, from Canadian and American scientists at one of the affiliated labs. A place called Alkali Lake. Something about a super-soldier program. She was reading halfway through it, disgusted at some of the experiments conducted on the poor test subjects, yet, as a scientist, she felt that there was some potential in the results. Particularly that freak, unreplicable success with bonding adamantium to the human skeleton. It would have some application in Project E.   
  
Whoever that Weapon X was, she thought, as she packed the file away, to be archived inside the MAGI later, she would hate to be upsetting it. Or be in a confined space with it.   
  
Geofront Gate 3   
  
"Misato! Slow down! You'll hit the..."   
  
Misato slammed her foot hard on the brake pedal, the car screeching in protest and continued to move forwards towards the metal bar, stopping six inches from a broken windshield.   
  
"See, Ritsuko? I know what I'm doing. I AM the one with real driving skills, you know," she gloated.   
  
Ritsuko regretted filling up the fuel tank before she returned the car keys. Logan sat in the back seat, slowly shaking his head, but smiling to himself at the incident. He couldn't really blame Misato for driving her blue Renault Alpine the way she did. It was, after all, a sports car. He motioned towards the large, one meter wide metal bar that stood in the way.   
  
"What about that thing?"   
  
Misato flashed her ID card at no-one in particular, to no response.   
  
She waved her ID card frantically all over, as if trying to attract someone's attention. She moved her card up and down, sideways, diagonally, flipped it several times, and even frantically fanned herself with it. The metal bar stood still.   
  
"What... is wrong...with.. this...thing?!" Misato yelled in frustration.   
  
"Oh for God's sake," Ritsuko said, producing her own ID card. With a flick of the wrist, she had her card scanned by the overhead reader. The metal bar silently drew back into the walls of the tunnel.   
  
"I swear, the MAGI computers hate me, " Misato said.   
  
"It's a computer. Computers do not hate. Computers do not feel anything. Not even pain," Ritsuko calmly reminded her.   
  
Misato drove the car down a long, downhill tunnel to one of the underground parking lots, wickedly parallel parking along a wall. Logan followed the two women along a well-lit corridor, till the came face to face with several shuttered gates. Much like the turnstiles at a railway station, Ritsuko swiped her ID card, gaining access. The gates shut themselves behind her.   
  
"Welcome to the Geofront, Logan. The last hope of mankind," Misato said in mockingly serious tones. She punched in several numbers in the ID card reader, taking care to cover her hand so he can't see the numbers. The shutters slid open. "Come with me," Misato said. "Nobody's going to bother us in my office," she said, a sly grin crossing her face as they both stepped beyond the treshold and entered the headquarters proper.   
  
It had been almost ten minutes. He grew impatient. "We're going round in circles, girl," he snarled in irritation.   
  
"Nonsense!" Misato replied. "I'm the one who works here, I'll tell you when we're lost,"   
  
The narrow tunnels and corridors in the Geofront that Misato often used as a shortcut were deserted They took left turns, climbed down stairs, rode lonely escalators that Misato often had to start with a swift kick to the "on" switch. After all that, he knew that he saw the same empty soda machine three times. Some sense of direction that this woman had.   
  
"I'm telling ya, you're lost!" Logan reiterated.   
  
"Look, my office is just round the corner here," Misato protested.   
  
Fifteen minutes more of this and they reached one of the main corridors. Misato's office door stood before them. "Told you it wasn't far," Misato triumphally exclaimed, while opening the door with a swipe of her ID card. Logan saw that her office, while bare, was rather spacious, dark but not disruptively so. He sat down in one of the hard wooden chairs, dusty from disuse, while Misato opened up one of her desk drawers, first of all, producing her gun. She strapped the holster around the bare skin of her thigh, shaking her leg to make sure the gun was secure. It seemed like she was planning to use the gun very soon. The next thing she brought out was a plastic credit card that looked exactly like her own ID card. She tossed it to Logan. It had the NERV logo of half a red maple leaf and the agency initials. There was a barcode and magnetic stripe, but otherwise the card was white and featureless.   
  
"Visitor's card," she said, noticing his puzzled expression. "Opens all the unsecured doors inside the Geofront,"   
  
"You're trusting me with this?" He asked, incredulous. Nick Fury at SHIELD would never be so lax with security. And Nick was more times than not, a friend. She was still very much a stranger to him.   
  
"I trust you, Logan," Misato said, smiling. And just in case, the MAGI will take note of every door you open, she thought to herself. But she felt she needed a little test. "I'm going to check up on Ritsuko," she said. "Stay here and don't wander till I get back," she finished, and as she stepped out the door, she blew him a kiss. "See you later, OK?"   
  
The door remained open behind her. She was obviously tempting him.   
  
He sat in his chair, surveying her empty office. There were no cameras that he was aware of, and she may actually know something he doesn't, so he began to casually walk over to her desk. He scanned through some of the papers on her desk. He glanced at the computer screen on her desk, half-hoping to find something useful.   
  
He found reports on drunken fights, gambling, disorderly conduct, stolen equipment. Nothing unusual. Then he saw the recent file. Assigned to her by a Subcommander Fuyutsuki. It was a complete dossier on the recent murder attempts on NERV personnel. He leafed through them, trying to detect a pattern. Gassings in trains. Slit throats in bed. Gunshots on the way to the supermarkets. Missile technicians. Enginees. Scientists.   
  
He read the names of the dead scientists. One name, Kusumadewi, rang bells. He had seen that name before, and it had connections to Alkali Lake. He cursed his bad luck. Another dead end, literally. The people behind his past are disappearing one way or another.   
  
He put the files back. He tried to make her desk look undisturbed. As he did so, he caught the residual whiff of lavender perfume from her chair, which brought his train of thought to Misato. He shook his head, trying to shake some sense into his mind. He knew he didn't come to Japan for her, but now he felt reluctant to leave Tokyo-3 without her.   
  
  
Project E Lab Subcomplex   
  
"Good Morning, Doctor Akagi,"   
  
"Morning, Myers." Ritsuko locked the lab door behind her, then scanned through the results of last night's experiments. Project E was progressing well on schedule. Myers, one of her many assistants, often kept vigil in the project E labs after everyone else has left., keeping an eye over some ongoing experiments.   
  
"Any news?" Myers asked, handing an empty cup of coffee to Ritsuko. "I'm uhh.. sorry about using your mug..."   
  
"Never mind my mug," Ritsuko replied. "Someone tried to kill me last night."   
  
Myers's eyes went wide. "Say what?" he asked, eyes wide open in shock.   
  
"That's right," Ritsuko sighed. "Sniper tried to get me at Katsuragi's place. Right when I was standing next to her. I guess if she hadn't pushed me out the way.. "   
  
"Wow." Myers was amazed. Ritsuko often spoke about Misato, enough to leave an impression in his mind of an incompetent, irresponsible woman who worked in one of the sub-levels pushing papers, and getting drunk at the end of the day. This was the first time he heard her speak of Misato with respect.   
  
"What happened after that?" he asked.   
  
"I told her to get me back to the Geofront, but she said it was too dangerous to move me at night, so I had to spend the night in her house, with her and that new boyfriend of hers. I think he's her boyfriend, for the next week or so, as usual. Hairy white guy, calls himself Logan. From Madripoor. All the people she brings in..." she shook her head in disapproval.   
  
"Doctor Akagi..." Myers asked, nervous.   
  
"Yes, Myers?"   
  
"Did you just say you spent the whole night at Katsuragi's house?" he asked, uncertain.   
  
"Against my better judgement and free will, yes, could you believe the stench of beer all over the place?" Ritsuko said, smiling.   
  
"So you never came to the labs at all last night, Doctor?"   
  
"No! I told you, Misato wouldn't let me leave!"   
  
Myer's face slowly paled as the blood drained from his face. He took slow, unsteady steps to a lab bench, handing Ritsuko a clipboard. She recognized the documents as an inventory check printout.   
  
"So you didn't sign this?" Myers asked, barely a hoarse whisper.   
  
Ritsuko held the clipboard, her eyes carefully reading the statement line by line. The MAGI printout was timestamped at 4 a.m. It authorized the transfer of several handheld sonic oscillators, half a meter of platinum ribbon, and the adamantium slag from the Lance replica project from the Geofront to the Matsushiro testing grounds. At the bottom, in her favourite dark blue ink, was her signature.   
  
"Impossible... I..I never signed this!" Ritsuko gasped. "How did this happen?" she barked, rapidly gaining some composure.   
  
"You.. you came in here at 4 am, I let you in myself!" Myers said. Ritsuko found a chair and plunked her body on it, she was getting dizzy from the shock. "You had the Operations staff take out the inventory, then signed the inventory check yourself!"   
  
Ritsuko cradled her head with both hands. How was this possible? She couldn't have possibly sleepwalked from Misato's place. The security systems wouldn't have let unauthorized persons in.   
  
"Myers," she said softly. " I want to see all the project scientists in this lab, then triple check everything related to the Evangelion project for sabotage and .."   
  
"Yes, Doctor?"   
  
"Put the Commander on the phone for me," Ritsuko sighed. She should have jumped in front of that bullet last night.   
  
  
Aichi   
  
The NERV helicopter made a quick landing at an open field. Three men and a box got off. The helicopter took off again. They carried the heavy box with them.   
  
"Easy! Easier than stealing candy from the dead!"   
  
Kaji couldn't help but chuckle. His partner in crime was right. They'd been thinking for months on how to liberate the adamantium from NERV, without being able to come up with anything workable. Then they had a massive stroke of good luck. They found someone who could pull off the ultimate inside job. She even signed the paperwork.   
  
"You sure it's smart, not telling her the hit on Ritsuko failed?" asked Creed, his mane of blond hair blowing wildly from the backdraft of the departing chopper. Kaji shrugged, nonchalantly. "She's tough. She's smart. She'll figure out a way."   
  
"She doesn't know the real Ritsuko ain't dead."   
  
"She'll live, Creed. We won't, if we can't get this adamantium to Jasmine Falls before they figure out it's ..."   
  
"Missing?! How can you allow it to go missing?!"   
  
"Subcommander, I've already told you everything I know," Ritsuko initially felt panic at the initial discovery, but now it has been replaced with cold rage. How dare whoever it was, steal from her labs? Who dared fake her signature?   
  
"I suppose asking for your resignation would not help matters," Fuyutsuki said, in a cold, formal tone. "I will discuss our next course of action with the Commander. Thank you for bringing this to my attention, Chief Scientist Akagi."   
  
"Kaji you little bastard...."   
  
"What?"   
  
"You're not really helping us move this are you? You're just parking your hands under the damn box..." cursed Creed.   
  
"Oh. My apologies. I was just thinking how we could tell our darling Ritsuko to bail," Kaji said. The real Ritsuko, he silenty muterred to himself.   
  
"Get this crate to Jasmine Falls first, then think," reprimanded the third man. "Brother Pierce will have an answer," he said.   
  
Central Dogma   
  
A large central shaft under the pyramid headquarters of NERV led straight down almost four kilometers deep. It was called the Central Dogma. It housed many things that Misato never bothered to find out. Access became more and more restricted the deeper down one goes. Nobody she knows has even seen the door to Terminal Dogma, the large vault at the end of the shaft. Ritsuko once commented that it was like the mouth of Hell itself.   
  
So it strangely made sense for Misato to look for Ritsuko there. She found her friend after almot two hours of searching, at one of the lower levels of the Dogma, resting against the metal safety railings, staring down into the darkness of the shaft. She was glad to have found Ritsuko, some parts of the Dogma were practically deserted, and dark. She liked neither the darkness nor the silence.   
  
"Ritsuko!" she cried out. "Ritsuko!"   
  
Ritsuko turned, faintly smiling when she saw Misato approach. She beckoned her to come closer.   
  
"Hello, Misato."   
  
"You're a long way down," Misato said. "Two levels deeper and I'd run out of access."   
  
Ritsuko chuckled softly. "So they don't trust either one of us going down there." She stared at the shadows dancing across the walls of the Dogma. "So what brings you to me?" Ritsuko asked, her hands slowly coming to rest on her hips.   
  
"I'm checking up on you, silly! Most people don't act normal just after someone tries to kill them, so I thought I'd keep an eye on you," she said, cheerfully.   
  
"Tried... " the word echoed softly in the dark shaft. Tried, she thought to herself. "How long since the ...attempt?" Ritsuko asked her friend.   
  
"Almost 16 hours ago now.. I guess whoever it was is too far away to catch now. Gee, Ritsuko, I really think you should see one of the shrinks. Post-traumatic stress disorder's got you bad," Misato said, smiling reassuringly at Ritsuko.   
  
"No! I'm fine. " Ritsuko protested.   
  
Misato stared at the floor, suddenly pensive. "Look Ritsuko, I'm really sorry about what happened. I know you think I've failed you again.."   
  
Ritsuko stood still, betraying no emotion.   
  
"I'm supposed to be keeping you safe and all, me being the big bad MP, but I can't even find the piece of @#%$ that hit you on the head back in university. Now we can't even track down who tried to kill you. I know you're mad at me for not chasing after the sniper, but..."   
  
Ritsuko stared at her friend's bowed head. "But?.." she asked.   
  
"I have to take care of the civilian too. I mean, Logan's pretty much an innocent here, and I .."   
  
"Logan... " Ritsuko hissed in thinly veiled contempt.   
  
"Yeah, I noticed your distaste," Misato said, then added "he's not that bad, Ritsuko. I think he's got potential,"   
  
"Potential..." sneered Ritsuko, in a hostile tone that was somehow different from her usual sarcasm. "Where is he anyway?"   
  
"My office. Oh relax, Ritsuko, the MAGI are keeping track of his movements. How'd you think I found you? I checked the MAGI for all the doors you opened," Misato smiled. "See, you're not the only person with computer skills," she said, proud of herself in a small way.   
  
Ritsuko eyed her up and down. "Does he know you're here?" she asked, turning to face Misato.   
  
"Of course not...."   
  
Ritsuko smiled, before launching a spinning heel kick that landed square on Misato's head. She reeled from the impact, her body slamming on the metal safety rails, before she slumped down, dazed. Before she could react to the shock of the betrayal,. Ritsuko had managed to twist her gun out of its holster. She then laid a hand on Misato's chest and pushed her down, trying to use her own body weight to keep Misato down on the floor, as her free right hand then pointed Misato's own service automatic handgun to her forehead. The cold steel pressed hard into her skull.   
  
Misato had managed to register the thought that something was horribly, horribly wrong. As she sat there, Ritsuko nudged the barrel of the gun harder against her head, the barrel making an impression on the skin of her fae.. This is impossible, Misato thought. Ritsuko was just a scientist. There was no way Ritsuko could move faster than she did.   
  
"The access codes for Terminal Dogma," Ritsuko hissed. "Give them to me or die.."   
  
"What are you, stupid?!" Misato snarled back at her erstwhile friend. "You already know the damn access codes. This isn't funny, Ritsuko. Give me my gun back before I decide to kick your ass for that cheap stunt." Her head throbbed with pain. Ritsuko wasn't playing around with that kick.   
  
"Pity," Ritsuko said. "Well, I suppose I'll just kill you now. You're a little lower on the hit list, but I think I'll speed it up..." her finger began to exert pressure on the trigger. Misato saw, with mounting horror, the hammer of her own gun beginning to draw back.She had to act fast if she wanted to live, but any sudden movement might make Ritsuko reflexively pull the trigger.   
  
"Uh-hum." The two women were startled by the deep growl of some large animal. There were no animals this deep in the Dogma.   
  
Misato saw Ritsuko waver a bit, as if recognizing the sound, and associating the sound with a lot of pain. But the gun remained fast against her skull.   
  
"Back off, Wolverine!!," Ritsuko shouted, in a voice not her own. "Or you're going to have to find another NERV slut.. Back off, you hear me you hairy bastard?!" Ritsuko shouted.   
  
Misato took the opportunity to slap the gun away from her head. Ritsuko had fired instinctively, but the bullet harmlessly made its way through Misato's hair, doing her no real harm. A swift knee to the gut, and Misato had managed to throw her former friend off her. The gun flew away and landed some distance away with a clattering sound. Ritsuko quickly rolled away from Misato and stood up in a defensive fighting stance. Out of the corner of her eye, Misato saw something running fast approaching Ritsuko.   
  
It was Logan, charging out of the shadows. There was something that he was holding in his hand. It had looked like knives. Logan made hard slashing motions with those knives at Ritsuko, which she ducked under, and turned the momentum by a leg sweep that staggered the sturdy Logan , but wasn't enough to drop him. He jumped away from Ritsuko, and the two combatants began to circle each other, each looking for an opportunity to strike.   
  
Misato quickly tried to make her way to her gun. Logan made another jump at Ritsuko, trying to stab her with those knives he had, but Ritsuko was ready, grabbing him by the wrist, and skillfully throwing him against a solid steel support beam. He hit with a thud, the aid quickly being knocked out of his lungs. Ritsuko took the opportunity to run, rapidly tearing away her highly visible lab coat and trying to make it to the shadows.   
  
Misato found her gun precariously perched on the lip of the Dogma. Logan gave chase to Ritsuko, or whoever it was, snarling like an animal. Misato quickly turned her body around, trying to find Logan and Ritsuko.   
  
"Come out, Mystique," Logan taunted his opponent. "I ain't finished chopping out your guts," he said, eyes carefully scanning the shadows for any movement. Misato quickly tried to make her way to him, but a shot rang out from nowhere, making a small indentation in the floor a few inches away from her foot.Misato cursed, and ducked and rolled her way to hide behind a support pillar. She couldn't pinpoint the direction the shot came from.   
  
  
She softly cursed, her ears trying hard to detect movement. What was going on? What was wrong with Ritsuko that made her try to kill me? she thought to herself. And what was that that she called Logan?   
  
He made his way slowly, carefully, through the shadows, his claws caught the ambient light and glinted with a cold light, giving his position away. He didn't care. This ends here, now.   
  
Misato heard a running sound. She peeked out from behind the pillar she was hiding behind. She saw Ritsuko charging towards her, and Logan was giving chase, but Ritsuko had too much of a lead. She pointed her gun at Ritsuko's knee, thinking that she should try for a non-lethal target.   
  
"Ritsuko! Stop!" she yelled in warning. Ritsuko paid her no heed.   
  
"Damn it! Stop! Stop or I'll...." do what? fire? actually shoot a friend? Ritsuko kept on running, easily outpacing Logan.   
  
Ritsuko reached the safety railing, then to Misato's numb horror, vaulted over the railing, laughing maniacally as she fell.   
  
"Damn. She keeps running places I can't reach," Logan cursed as he walked over to catch a glimpse of the falling form.   
  
Misato saw, through the horror she felt, that it wasn't knives that he held in his hand.   
  
"Who.. what are you?" she stammered, slowly pointing her gun at Logan. "And whatever those things are, drop them. Now."   
  
"Like I told you before, darlin'. Name's Logan, and as for these," he said, indicating his claws, "'fraid I can't quite do that." He retracted his claws, and with a snickt sound, they slid back into his arm. "Uh.. you can put the gun down, Misato."   
  
"Not till you tell me what I want to hear! " Misato snarled back, her hands slightly trembling from the horror she just witnessed."What the hell just happened there? Did you force Ritsuko to jump?! Answer me!"   
  
Logan raised in arms in a mock gesture of surrender. "That really wasn't your pal Ritsuko,"   
  
"Oh? Really? " she asked, bitterly.   
  
"I know her. Mutant shapechanger, name of Mystique. Pain in the ass, that scaly blue bitch."   
  
"Mutant.." Misato thought to herself. She knew one mutant working in the agency, a technician named Imagawa who had superhuman strength. It was quite a sight to the uninitiated, seeing him carry equipment that must have weighted tons. "So I guess you'd be one too.. those things in your hands..." She lowered her bead on him.   
  
"Wasn't born with them.. Someone put them in."   
  
"Who?" Misato asked, curious.   
  
"That's why I came to this town. Seems that one of your scientists were among the ones that put them in me," he said, carefully skipping over the details.   
  
Misato peered into the dark shaft. She could see some of the red warning lights, but nothing else. The Dogma wasn't installed with lights yet. "How'd you follow me to the Dogma? I told you to stay put!" she said, a little disappointment discernible in her voice.   
  
Logan tapped his nose. "Your scent's kinda easy to follow. I just followed the trail of beer,"   
  
Misato suppressed a laugh. "show some respect for beer. That's how we met," she smiled at him. "So that wasn't Ritsuko? The real Ritsuko's safe?" Logan nodded, casting a glance at the darkened pit where he knew, he just knew, that his opponent was hiding down there somewhere.   
  
"Why don't you check up on her yourself?" Logan suggested.   
  
"Hey Logan," Misato said, in a completely different tone of voice.   
  
"What?"   
  
"You understand Japanese perfectly well, don't you?"   
  
"Well,yeah, I do know a couple of words here and there, " he bluffed. He understood the language perfectly.   
  
"So you heard..."   
  
"Yup" was Logan's simple reply.   
  
"Oh no," Misato blushed slightly. "Well, come on up with me to the upper levels, mister potential,"   
  
Logan grinned at the last remark. This had potential, he thought.   
  
"This is a potential disaster, ladies and gentlemen," Ritsuko said to the assembled senior scientists. "Construction of the prototype Evangelion unit is still behind schedule, and now we've lost the adamantium sample that was supposed to be for the replica Lance." Her eyes scanned every face in the room for any hint of worry.   
  
"Has there been any demands by the thieves?" asked someone.   
  
Ritsuko shook her head. "I wish there was," she said. "We believe whoever stole the adamantium knew what to do with it. They stole some of the oscillators as well," murmurs of knowing dread rippled throughout the lab.   
  
"Come on, come on you stupid door, open up!" Misato practically yelled at the door, Logan standing behind her as she repeatedly swiped her ID card throught the card reader, only to get a pleasant computer voice say "No Access" to her over and over again. He wisely stood aside as Misato continued her frantic begging and cursing at the MAGI computers to let her in.   
  
"Which means," Ritsuko said with a sigh, "that we'll be refocusing our research goals for the short term. The Prog Knife system will now have top priority in weapons systems ......"   
  
"Damn you, stupid computer!" Misato yelled at the door. "I know the labs are restricted but it's important! I need to check on Ritsuko..." The sudden opening of the door surprised her, especially as she had given up swiping her card and was about to pound on the door until someone opened up.   
  
Ritsuko was interrupted before she could end the sentence. Several heads, including her own, turned to one of the doors which had inexplicably opened, despite her personally locking all the doors electronically. Misato stood on the other side, a look of relief on her face appearing as soon as she saw Ritsuko's own, less than amused expression.   
  
"How did you open that door?" Ritsuko asked. "It's supposed to be off limits to uniformed personnel. Especially civillians," she said, nudging an eyebrow at Logan's direction. "That's gratitude for you," Misato muttered under her breath. "Just checking on you, Ritsuko, making sure you didn't jump off the Dogma .. or something"   
  
"What are you babbling about? I'm conducting a meeting! We can discuss this later, Lieutenant Katsuragi," Ritsuko said, dismissing her friend with a wave of her hand. Misato took the obvious signal to go away, taking Logan by the hand as she made her way to her office.   
  
"She just ain't your type, is she?" Logan asked, as Misato made a beeline for her office, stomping away in anger, and miraculously, not getting lost in the process. "She's been my friend since University, Logan. I know her better than I do you."   
  
"So, now what?" he asked.   
  
"We're going to my office. I'm taking you home."   
  
"You don't want to protect me here anymore?" he asked.   
  
"I think you can take care of yourself. Besides, Ritsuko's right. You're not supposed to be here," Misato said as she opened her office door.   
  
On the way back to her apartment, she asked him the question. "Where are you staying, Logan?"   
  
"This little hotel downtown, right by those weird buildings with no doors," he said.   
  
"Ah, why not stay here with me? Saves you a few thousand yen and I can keep an eye on you better," Misato said.   
  
"I'll make it worth your while, Logan," she added, in a different tone of voice.   
  
Why not, he thought. 


	7. Reprisal 0:7 Schism

Reprisal 0:7 Schism  
  
  
  
Author's notes: The pace will pick up and accelerate from 0:6 to the final chapter (just like NGE), so please let me know If you see any plot holes. This story is a crossover between X-Men and NGE, but is primarily an Eva story, although I've tried to make it as accessible to non-Eva fans as I could.  
  
The Evas and Children are not a part of this story. I figured I'd give the adult cast of NGE some time in the spotlight.  
  
Kindly review, and if it sucks, let me know why.  
  
  
  
  
  
Germany  
  
The phone rang. Not just any phone. It was the phone that the servants weren't allowed to answer. The encrypted satellite line. He slowly shuffled to his large oak desk, his ancient bones painfully protesting the sudden rush. He hands lifted the receiver, and immediately a hologram screen was projected on the air above his desk. The words "sound only" on a black background gave away nothing.  
  
"Speak" he said to the receiver. Something told him this was unpleasant.  
  
"Well well well.. Hello, me," said the voice on the other end.  
  
It was his own voice.  
  
His voice betrayed no emotion, but inside, he was seething at the insult. "What do you want?" he asked, brusquely. He never had patience for childish tricks with voice synths.  
  
"Why Chairman Lorenz, such an ungentlemanly tone, have I caught you at a bad time?" his doppelganger voice asked, in perfect German. Five minuted of cold silence was the reply.  
  
"This is what I want, you ancient bastard," the voice continued, a hint of anger now apparent. "I have that hunk of slag you want. You still owe me a few million Euros for it. Slag for cash, or I'll have my people sell it to the market. Your call, Herr Lorenz."  
  
"You little fool." Lorenz said, showing no emotion. "What makes you think we won't just take it anyway?"  
  
The stranger barked a laugh which sounded hideously animal. "My people will fight you for it. Folks with religion don't take kindly to pressure, Chairman. Martyrdom, going down in flames, that sort of thing."  
  
"If what you say is true, Mystique, I already have the adamantium. You merely fail to recognize that fact. And did we not tell you never cross paths with us again?"  
  
There was silence on the other end of the line.  
  
"It amuses me to let you live, young woman." Lorenz said, his usage of formal German calculated to show her that he was deadly serious. Mystique simply let the line go dead. The hologram fizzled out and disappeared. Lorenz put the phone down, and walked over to the large window that overlooked his garden. He stood there for several moments, admiring the view. His eyes lingered over the oak tree that Hitler planted the day a grateful Fuhrer gave the estate to him so many years ago as a token of appreciation for all his help. The Allied forces confiscated the castle from him at the end of the war, but it was merely a matter of time before he regained posession of it from its new owners. It was merely money and time, and he had all of both in the world.  
  
He cast his eyes at the clear blue sky. He remembered the sky turning black, and red, during the Second Impact when the energies released from the first Angel ignited a global cataclysm. It was the happiest moment of his life. It meant that he was correct. Correct about everything. He had instructed Dr. Katsuragi to use the Lance of Longinus on the Angel and it had done exactly what the prophecies foretold. Then the telemetry data from the satellites came in, confirming his greatest hopes. Immediately after the first Angel imploded, fifteen energy patterns that NERV now call blue- pattern signals suddenly appeared in Earth orbit for a fraction of a second, then immediately disappeared again.  
  
The Angels have come at last. Immediately afterwards as the world struggled to come to grips with the disaster, he had set his plans into motion. He convinced the United Nations of the impending Angel threat, and wrangled from them the funds necessary to set up NERV. As a final measure of control, he initiated the merger with Gehirn and put the senior scientists in control . He was now, indirectly, the master of humanity's destiny.  
  
And the mutant had it in her to think she can bargain with him, him!  
  
He walked away from the window to an old gramophone. It was an early version, that actually had to be cranked up to be used. He cranked up the gramophone and played one of his favourite records. He stood there, enjoying the music. With the adamantium in his hands, he could construct the replica Lances himself, without having to worry about Ikari's incesssant delays. Ikari was a good servant, but ever since that unfortunate accident with his wife, sometimes it seemed like he had another agenda.  
  
Still, he had to keep up appearances, and a phone call to Japan should get the world's alien defense agency something to do while he waits for his plans to come to fruition.  
  
M. Katsuragi  
  
He didn't notice the name plate on her apartment door the first time he came here.  
  
"Hey look, they finally put it in," Misato said cheerfully, brushing her fingers over the metal nameplate. She opened the door and they both stepped in. "I think you'd better not go wandering the city too much for the next few days," she suggested, and Logan merely nodded. It was late afternoon and the apartment was very warm. He suspected that most of the city's inhabitants only returned home when the sun had set and the heat had dissipated a little. "So what now?" he asked.  
  
"Now you and I are going to sit down, and there's going to be some things I'm going to ask you, and you're going to answer them, " Misato said, the earlier jovial tones had disappeared to be replaced by the tone that Logan called her "professional voice" . She had potential at this business, but something told him that this wasn't what she really wanted. He grabbed a chair and sat down, staring intently at her. "Shoot," he said.  
  
She opened her fridge and grabbed two beers, tossing a can at him. She immediately opened her own can, taking a long swig. Then she sat down, or more accurately, threw herself down on an armchair.  
  
"Just who are you, really? And what kind of business do you have in this city?" she asked, staring intently at him Her hand still gripped the can, the other hand gently resting on the thigh with the holster. He saw no reason to lie. Not with her.  
  
"My name is Logan. Folks call me many things, Logan, canucklehead, Patch,"  
  
"Wolverine" she said. "What kind of name is that for a man?"  
  
He told her. Everything about his past, as far as he can trust the memories. He stressed his quest for the past, and that he had meant no harm. He had just wanted to find out the link between Gehirn and the mysteries of his past. The sun lowered in the sky, half of it was already behind the horizon, when Misato finally rested her can of beer on a table. It had gone warm in her hand without ever returning to her lips. Her hand absent-mindedly went to her chest, grasping the silver cross pendant she always wore.  
  
"I really, really want to believe you, Logan, I really do, but.."  
  
"But?"  
  
"Your story doesn't hold water," she said, her gaze fixed on him. "What's the difference between you wanting to find out your connection to Gehirn, and you wanting to go through agency secrets? What's the difference between you and those Angel cultists who can't stand NERV?"  
  
"Misato, if you don't feel you can trust me, then why...?" he asked, unsure of how to finish the question.  
  
There was a few seconds of silence between them that was interrupted by the incessant chirping of cicadas.  
  
"Because I want to! I want to, damn it, but you won't let me believe you!" she half screamed, half sobbed, as she fought a battle against her own raging emotions. "You just appear out of nowhere and I wind up taking you inside one of our most secure areas. God, I wasn't even conscious when I met you! These things you want...."  
  
The rapping of knuckles on the door interrupted her. "Ma'am? You okay in there?"  
  
"Yes! Fine thanks!" she shouted back.  
  
"You posted a guard?" he asked, incredulous. Misato nodded briefly. "To keep the enemy out, or to ...." Misato stared deeply into his eyes with a look that only confirmed his worst fears. "Damn. At least the fridge is well stocked," he sighed in resignation.  
  
"Don't take it so hard, Logan," Misato said , walking over to him, and letting her hand rest on his shoulder. She felt the muscles stiffen underneath. "There are worse places than with me in my apartment, OK? They don't stock beer in the holding cells."  
  
He still sat in that very same chair, silent as a rock, as she laid herself down to sleep that night. Alone.  
  
Level 5 Cafeteria.  
  
Bathed in artificial light, the Geofront doesn't sleep. Misato and Ritsuko sat at one of the tables that had a view of the underground gardens of the Geofront. Their watches said it was 23:25. There were a few other people having late meals, but the large cafeteria was all but empty. Ritsuko's white lab coat was all crumpled again, and her eyes had the tell-tale rings around them that no amount of make-up could ever hope of concealing. Any normal human would have collapsed from exhaustion, but Ritsuko had worked almost non-stop through the day without major harm.  
  
"This sushi is dead!" Misato complained. "You're just being grouchy, Misato. You saw them prepare it yourself" Ritsuko said, as she finished her second can of Mountain Dew. She was told of the American drink's inhuman caffeine content and almost immediately had it made available in all the eating places and vending machines. "Besides, it wouldn't hurt a woman to actually learn cooking, would it?" Ritsuko asked, a playful smile dancing on her lips. "I'm sure your little love slave in your apartment would love it when you serve him sashimi on your belly."  
  
"He's in protective custody, how many times must I tell you that? What do you expect me to do? Throw him in the cells?" Misato protested.  
  
"You can charge him with attempted murder. He did throw the Chief Scientist down the Dogma. Oh, wait, the shapechanger jumped, didn't she?" Misato nodded. "Misato, where is the body?" Ritsuko asked. Misato shrugged. "The Dogma's huge..." "Humph," Ritsuko stared at Misato,clearly annoyed at her. "Thanks to you, I have to install DNA active scanners on all entrances to the Project E labs. Can you imagine the dent to my budget just to make sure it's really me that walks in the labs?" The moment passed, and Ritsuko was her normal, detached self again. She turned her head to take in the view of the gardens, and the pine trees that grew underground thanks to the miracles of science.  
  
"Ritsuko..." Misato asked, in an almost pleading tone, breaking her reverie.  
  
"Hmm?" Ritsuko asked, distracted from her own problems.  
  
"What am I going to do with him? I've got a mutant with unbreakable claws and a bad temper in my apartment. You're from Gehirn, can't you just tell him what he wants to hear?"  
  
"Misato, does the word classified mean ANYTHING to you?" Ritsuko asked. "Do you think I'd give my father the blueprints to the MAGI just because they remind him of Naoko?" Ritsuko then stopped, and cast a glance around her. The cafeteria was now totally deserted, the human cafeteria staff having gone home for the night,leaving only the automatic bento dispensers to satiate the hunger of the graveyard shift workers. Her watch said it was a few minutes past midnight. She leaned closer to Misato, her voice coming out in a hoarse whisper her eyes never wavering from Misato's own.  
  
"The Weapon X program is a joint US-Canada operation, a super-soldier program. Gehirn just observed, and made recommendations where scientifically viable. That's all. Most of the Gehirn scientists attached to that project are retired or dead now. The synchronization program we use for the Evangelions... We based the system from the scientific data we gathered from Weapon X. We also gained posession of a certain pile of adamantium slag."  
  
"Adamantium?" Misato gasped.  
  
Yes, Misato, the very same stuff that was stolen. I will not name names, but just tell him that what he's looking for isn't here. Don't thank me, Misato. Thank Naoko. It's all from her files. I .. think that's all you both should know," Ritsuko then sat back, and finished her Mountain Dew.  
  
Misato was flabbergasted, unable to say anything for a few moments. Ritsuko's frankness was totally unlike her. Ritsuko normally was the type to deny everything, but now she was giving her information that Misato could never extract on her own. What other secrets does Ritsuko keep, she wondered.She stammered out a "Why?". The look in Ritsuko's eyes changed into an expression of sorrow so different from the arrogance she usually projected. "Misato, once upon a time, I was a woman who would never, never do something like that to another human being. This is my way of telling her I'm sorry, for what I must do .. to.... her," Ritsuko looked away from Misato's eyes, deep shame was the last emotion Misato caught before she rebuilt her emotional defenses and was once again, Ritsuko the ice queen.  
  
"Thank you, Ritsuko," Misato said, with more sincerity than she had ever managed to muster in months.  
  
"Let this be a lesson to you, Misato," Ritsuko said, smiling sarcastically. "Never, ever pick up strange men in bars again. You never know where they've been," she said as she gathered her things and started to make her way back to her labs.  
  
Home  
  
The short drive back home felt like an eternity for Misato. The questions that played in her mind all day long What to tell him? The whole truth? The filtered truth? Ritsuko's confession? She found herself increasingly worried about how he would react to what she had to tell him. The young private guarding her apartment saluted when she came to her door, she replied with a limp wave of the hand. Her hands felt weak as she opened the door.  
  
"I'm home!" she said brightly.  
  
"Okaerinasai," was the gruff reply, "Welcome Home" in Japanese. She surveyed the devastation around her. Emptied beer cans littered the area around the armchair where he sat. The TV was running yet another strange gameshow. He just sat there, staring intently at the TV. She suspected that his mind was running at a hundred miles an hour, thinking and planning something. She knew he wasn't the type to be caged, no matter how comfortable. She knew too, that he could have busted out of here by sheer force, if he had wanted to.  
  
"We need to talk," she said, feeling the awful sense of awkwardness.  
  
"We or you?" Logan asked, biting on a new cigar He reached for a lighter.  
  
"I've found that information you wanted..." she said, hesitancy creeping into her voice, robbing her of her willpower to continue. Her fingers twirled her hair nervously. Failing to elicit much of a response from him, she told him what Ritsuko told her. He sat there impassively, both eyes staring at hers, as he had abandoned the Patch cover identity after the events in the Dogma. She even told him those facts that she had managed to dig up herself. At the end, she stood there, arms akimbo, nervous under the projected emotion of calm, waiting his response.  
  
"For that," he sneered, "I coop myself here for three days?" he barked a laugh. "For you coming home to tell me to go home, cause the show's all over years ago?"  
  
"Logan, it's not like that," she stammered.  
  
"Forget it, no, screw it," he said, deep bitterness evident in his voice. The moment of rage passed, and he saw before him the young woman trembling in a mix of emotions she could barely understand. "It ain't your fault, darlin'" he said, clumsily trying to repair the emotional damage he unintentionally caused. There's a gentle, caring side to her that she smothered under the gold bar of the Lieutenant and drowned under copious amounts of alcohol. But she was neither on duty or drunk then, and he had hurt her with his harsh response as surely as if he had used his metal claws on her physical heart.  
  
She wordlessly walked over to the fridge and pulled out the last can of beer. In an practiced response, she said "I'm sorry we're of no help to you, Logan," as she pulled open the tab, and took a swig of the good stuff with just a little more urgency than usual. It's a little late to be drinking alcohol, but she didn't care.  
  
"Look, Logan. As far as the agency is concerned, you're nothing. Less than a cockroach," she said, trying hard to speak in even tones. "We have no reason to give you anything. Not protective custody, not even a second glance. You don't deserve me taking you down the Geofront, giving you access to our heart..." Heart? She said heart? Was it a slip of the tounge, she asked herself.  
  
"So why did you?" he asked.  
  
"Because I wanted to. I want to see you safe. I want you in the safest place on the planet. I want to help you find what you're looking for. I want to give you kindness because..." she blurted out, her voice rising with each usage of the word "I".  
  
"I love you"  
  
"Not funny, Kaji Ryoji," Ritsuko said to the other person on the phone line.  
  
"Oh, Ritsuko, you were never one for emotions," the voice on the phone line said, jovially. "I thought those words would be the sweetest things a woman would ever want to hear," he said, playing up his boyish charm through his voice.  
  
"Kaji, it's almost two in the morning. I am trying to sleep," Ritsuko said.  
  
"Isn't sleeping in the labs hazardous to your health, Ritsuko?"  
  
"How'd you get this number?" Ritsuko asked, with some urgency in her voice.  
  
"My, you're grouchy!" Kaji said. "I call up my friend from university and ask her when she's going to make that trip to Aichi, just so we can go over old times over some sake, and I get such grouchiness from you,"  
  
"Kaji," Ritsuko said, with growing irritation. "I'm not going to Aichi. Not now, probably not ever, if that's where you're holing up,"  
  
Kaji's tone immediately changed, his voice lowering an octave.  
  
"Ritsuko, listen to me, listen to me really good because I don't know how long I can use an unsecured line."  
  
Ritsuko bit her lip, wondering what strange prank he was suddenly playing on her after so many years.  
  
"I'm glad you survived the assassination attempt, but there's a mutant shapechanger running around your Geofront who probably wants to kill you, keep on your guard."  
  
Ritsuko's blood froze, but she managed to regain some composure to ask the most important question.  
  
"Misato took care of that. Do you have the adamantium sample?"  
  
If Kaji felt surprise at Misato's capabilities, he kept it hidden. "You know, Commander Ikari would probably find this kind of information useful. He'd probably would like a steady supplier of information working for him, won't he, Ritsuko?"  
  
"Kaji, where is the sample?"  
  
"Your past. If you can travel back in time, maybe you can fetch it," he said. Before Ritsuko could respond to the cryptic clue, he told her his request "We've pretty much forgotten a lot of things, haven't we?" Ritsuko understood the request.  
  
"I'll have Misato pick up our package, Kaji." Ritsuko told him with a hint of malice in her voice.  
  
"Anyone but her," Kaji said. Ritsuko smiled to herself when she heard the panic in his voice. "One more thing, Kaji-kun," she said, for personal satisfaction this time, "I wish there was a God, so He can throw you in hell." Then she put the phone down. She cast a tired eye at some instrument panels, making sure the readings were still inside the tolerated ranges, before cradling her head in her arms and trying to catch some sleep on the lab bench.  
  
Misato couldn't sleep, only able to lie on her tatami and keep an ear open for any sounds that indicated that he wanted to leave. She had sent the guard back, after telling him that the civillian was no longer under any threat. Which was utter bullshit and she knew it, and the guard knew it. Their argument probably could be heard downtown, and she cringed at the thought of having to apologize for this to all her neighbours, not that she ever did whenever she made too much a ruckus at home. She heard him twist and turn in sleep in the living room. Sighing, she got out of bed and tried to slide the door open as silently as she could. He immediately opened his eyes and turned to face her.  
  
"What?" he asked gruffly. She said nothing, and silently walked to the bathroom.  
  
Morning came, and she saw him as she slid open her bedroom door. She was surprised, but it was a pleasant surprise. So he didn't sneak off in the predawn hours as she had expected. She stood there in shock. Did he change his mind about leaving, or did he just stay here so he can say goodbye properly? She noted that he was all dressed and ready to go.  
  
"I'm.."  
  
"Leaving," Misato finished the sentence for him. "I have no regrets," she said.  
  
"No, Misato," he said. "I'm going to find what I came here to find. Maybe there's something here, maybe not, but I can't rest until I'm done."  
  
"Return to me," she said.  
  
He nodded briefly. "It's a promise" he then turned to leave.  
  
"Logan," she said, interrupting him. She needed him to know. She had to say the words. He turned his head in her direction.  
  
She said, "Don't make others suffer for your personal hatred,"  
  
He opened the door and walked away.  
  
Confessional Hall  
  
Kaji stepped into the large cavernous Confessional Hall with his usual easy stride, but he knew that what he had just done put him at risk. He had gambled that the real Ritsuko would still be running the show, and he was right. He quickly glanced around the large, spherical underground hall for the other members of the Brotherhood. The room was empty, save for Brother Pierce, who was carefully laying out candles on a large altar. Kaji marveled at the dedication of the members of the Brotherhood, who had changed the old underground labs into a splendid, orderly temple complex. The Confessional Hall was a rather spartan, yet elegant hall of worship, fashioned out from a storage area, metal pews bolted and welded onto the floor, soundproof materials covering most of the walls. He noted that the large Systema Sephiroticum diagram on the ceiling was almost completely finished. It was the early hours of the morning, and members of the Brotherhood would soon gather to Confess, but for now it was him and Brother Pierce.  
  
He made his way along the aisle to meet Brother Pierce. He noted that the altar cloth was new, a simple black cloth with a rather unusual symbol, an inverted triangle and seven eyes sewn together in a metallic thread that alternately shone with the seven colours of the rainbow, or appeared to be a dull and lifeless gray. It was a dangerously familiar symbol, and each time he saw one, he had come close to death.  
  
Brother Pierce was an old man that Kaji guessed to be sixty or older, with a sharp, angular face and eyes that seemed full of kindness and love. His hair was once blonde but now was graying and receding along his forehead. Under the robes he was a thin, tall man whose seeming frailty hid the strength of his fervour. He spoke Japanese fluently, having once served in the Catholic church before he felt the doctrines of the Church were blind to the reality. The reality was that the Angels will return to wreak judgement on Man.  
  
"Good morning, Brother Pierce," he said in greeting.  
  
"Kaji, my son. I see you've regained your enthusiasm for attending Confessions. Good. For a while, there were worries that you may have wanted to go astray," said Brother Pierce, still busy lighting the candles.  
  
"There are some things I have been wondering about, Brother Pierce," Kaji said, trying not to give himself away.  
  
"Yes, my son." answered the preacher, slowly lighting candles with a cigarette lighter.  
  
"It's not like I question the doctrine that in these times of, ah, tribulation, the end justifies the means, but.."  
  
"Go on, Kaji,"  
  
"I am rather worried about reprisal from NERV,"  
  
"Ah, yes. Reprisal. I had considered that too. It simply won't do to have them assault Japanese soil, would it? Diplomatic incident at the United Nations and all," Brother Pierce smiled warmly. "Don't worry yourself too much over that, Kaji my son. Remember that day when we talked about our benefactor? He has agreed to help us move the metal elsewhere, where the mad scientists at NERV will never find it,"  
  
"Brother Pierce, not that I doubt you, but how can we be sure our benefactor is genuine?"  
  
"Ah, Kaji, you inquisitive young man. I see you've been digging around. I should be upset with you, but the chairman said he felt you had potential."  
  
Kaji nodded, uneasily. He unconsciously rubbed the back of his head with his hand, tugging at his ponytail to make it tighter. Brother Pierce continued to smile "Be at peace, Kaji. I was rather surprised too, when he approached me. Who would have thought it possible? Keel Lorenz, chairman of the NERV Supervision Committee itself, actually on our side?"  
  
Oh, no, Kaji thought. Bad things happen every time he heard that name. Brother Pierce finished lighting the candles, but continued to speak, smiling kindly at Kaji as he continued, "Such a divinely blessed soul. He truly understood the nature and mission of the returning Angels. He'd been trying hard to delay the madmen at NERV, and the adamantium is the key to our success,"  
  
"The key?" Kaji asked.  
  
"Yes, my son. The metal is the key component for NERV's attempts to recreate the Lance of Longinus. Without the original Lance, or a working copy, they have no weapon that can breach an Angel's sacred halo, the Absolute Terror Field. They will be helpless to prevent the Angels from completing their mission."  
  
"Praises to the Angels!" Kaji said.The holy mantra of this mad cult.  
  
"Blessings upon us," Brother Pierce said, completing the mantra.  
  
"When will he ...?" Kaji asked.  
  
"He will let us know. Which reminds me, Kaji. I would like to entrust the matter to you, when the time comes. You've done so much good for the Brotherhood, Kaji. I'm sure there would be a special place for you at God's Right Hand, when the Angels return us to the divine,"  
  
"I hope to keep you company then, Brother Pierce," Kaji said humbly, turning to leave.  
  
Oh, @#%$, oh @#%$, oh @#%$, he thought. What was he getting into? As he reached the door, Brother Pierce's voice rang out clear across the large hall.  
  
"I do expect you to attend the Confession today, Kaji."  
  
Morning was signaled by brightening the Geofront's lights. In Ritsuko's lab, her datapad carried out its preprogrammed wakeup function, loudly beeping until Ritsuko silenced it. She cast a tired eye at some of the instrument panels, making sure nothing unexpected had happened while she slept. She yawned and stretched, noticing for the first time, her own extremely dishevelled condition. She supposed the other scientists were too polite to point out to her how close she looked like a bag lady sometimes. She called out to the others, but it seemed she was alone. She sleepily made her way out of the labs, back to her office, drawing some unwelcome glances, quickly averted, from the morning shift workers who were beginning to pour into the Geofront. She locked the door to her own office. A quick call to Misato's office told her that she hasn't shown up yet. Ritsuko sighed, pulling open one of her desk drawers, pulling out the spare set of clothes she kept. She needed to use the shower, and a good intravenous drip of caffeine. She stopped suddenly, and sat down on her chair, which protested the sudden weight put upon it by squeaking uncomfortably. Ritsuko activated her computer and began to access the MAGI, accesing some old files.  
  
Misato's file photo suddenly appeared, along with the rest of her personnel records. Ritsuko laughed humorlessly at Misato's pay. Then she read Misato's files again, like she often did in the small hours of the night when she was all alone. Ristuko read Misato's evaluation reports, field test scores, combat sim reports, ultimately coming back to the line that haunted her every time she read it. It was Misato's original posting orders, to head a tactical section in headquarters. Misato would have commanded Evas into battle, if it were not for Ritsuko manipulating the MAGI's order assignments. Ritsuko thought she was actually helping Misato then, but the nagging doubts had eaten away at her over the past year until this morning, when she realized the full extent of her action.  
  
"I'll have Misato pick up our package"  
  
The words rang in her ears over and over again. She had said it at first to get back at Kaji, but the implications were chilling. She might be responsible for sending Misato to Aichi to die. Ritsuko had figured out what Kaji was talking about in a dream she had. She remembered the claustrophobic lab complex, smaller, darker, than the Geofront. The old Artificial Evolution labs that Gehirn abandoned a long time ago. She had worked there briefly overseeing the transfer of equipment, test subjects and samples to Tokyo-03. What have I done, she thought to herself in an endless loop. She ran a hand through her blonde hair, noticing that her natural dark brown roots were showing again. A few strands were now gray It wasn't fair. She was still young, and at her mid-20's, she should be having the time of her life, not aging prematurely underground. Yet, she had often felt old, and maybe she deserved the gray hair.  
  
"All right, Misato," Ritsuko silently whispered to the image of Misato displayed on the monitor, "I confess. I did it. I put you in Investigations because I didn't think you'd be of much use in Tactical," Misato's photo glared at her. "I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry. I didn't want you to get killed so early," Ritsuko said. Misato's photo was incapable of an answer, neither was it capable of stopping Ritsuko from turning her computer off, allowing her to escape the burning gaze of the eyes upon her. Ritsuko got up and headed to the showers, knowing no matter how hard she scrubbed her body, she would still be dirty.  
  
Much of the morning simply passed Misato by. She drove to work, sat down, cleared paperwork and did things. She interviewed some of the staff again regarding the murder cases, pestered some lab tech to work faster processing evidence, fooled around with her MP armband that was sewn into the arm of her jacket. Around noon, she locked her office door, cradled her head in her arms, and cried.  
  
Sliding her ill-gotten card into the reader, she easily opened the gate and stepped through. She had best leave before they found yet another body. Mystique laughed bitterly, as she made her way to the Geofront's train station, where the regularly scheduled train would take her, along with the lunch hour crowd, to the city above, as a winner. She couldn't swindle the money from Lorenz, but the money the Brotherhood paid her should be enough to tide her over until the next job. She found working with the cult distasteful, but in the harsh world after Second Impact, you make your living any way you can.  
  
Logan walked aimlessly all morning, watching the city come to life. For the first time, he felt no contempt for the many beige uniformed personnel who made their way underground. Neither did he feel disturbed at the sight of the strange buildings with no doors or windows. Armament buildings, Misato had told him. They were unique to Tokyo-03, innocent looking skyscrapers that housed missile racks and palette cannons. An innocent facade that hid deadly secrets. He considered his next course of action, deliberating whether it was worth it to sacrifice everything between him and Misato, or if there was anything between them, in his quest for the truth. He continued to keep a hand in his pocket, fingering the white card Misato gave him, and in the chaos and confusion of the past few days, she hadn't bothered to check if it was returned. It gave him easy entry to the Geofront, but he knew that were he to use it, it would mean hell to pay with Misato later. Like a roach motel, he could check in easy, but getting out in one piece was a different story.  
  
"The old Gehirn lab complex in Aichi, that's where the raw material is hidden," Ritsuko said.  
  
Fuyutsuki continued to look at her, an inscrutable expression on his face. "Jasmine Falls? How could you be so sure?"  
  
"I understand, Subcommander, that this might prove difficult to believe, but I do think someone over there is really on our side," she said, recrossing her legs anxiously. It was late afternoon, and she had spent most of her day here, in the construction hangars, knowing that if she stayed in the labs, she risked Misato coming over.  
  
"You are certain beyond doubt of this information, Doctor?" Fuyutsuki probed again, his eyes fixed on Ritsuko's own eyes. They stood on an overhead gantry that had a great view of the construction process on the prototype Eva combat robot. Flashes from welding torches reflected on Ritsuko's face. Ritsuko hunched over, holding her body close to her knees, as she slowly rocked her body, the crude steel bench that she sat on providing a strange sense of comfort to her. "Chief Scientist Akagi,you're about to be third in command at the agency. You can't afford to act on unsubstantiated information," Fuyutsuki continued.  
  
"Sir, this has nothing to do with my promotion. I just want the project finished." Fuyutsuki grunted, scanning Ritsuko from top down. "Ikari's right. You are so similar to each other." Ritsuko felt stung by the comment. She knew who she was being compared to. "I assume we'll be getting it back the usual way?" she asked tentatively. She took the silence to mean the affirmative.  
  
"Subcommander, I have a request. There's this friend of mine in Investigations... I want her as far away from this as possible. This isn't what she joined NERV for," she said, watching the hum of activity among the technicians and workers below as they welded another set of armor plates onto the giant Eva.  
  
"I won't stop a volunteer," Fuyutsuki said, clutching his hands behind his back, peering down on the activity below. His sudden change of stance told her that this line of conversation was over. Intellectually, she understood that keeping Misato away from too many things would lead straight back to her, and to more agency secrets than Misato deserves to know. If Misato wanted revenge, she will have only revenge. The truth is something reserved for those who can handle it. 


	8. Reprisal 0:8 Open wounds

Reprisal 0:8   
  
MAGI  
  
"Eh? A message from the MAGI?" Misato asked herself. She had locked herself in her office, and plowed through paperwork all through the afternoon, eventually falling asleep at her desk. What time was it, she asked herself. She glanced at her watch, then her computer screen.  
  
MAGI GUEST ACCESS  
  
ACTIVE LOG  
  
"Oh, my God," she said to herself in a mixture of shock and horror.  
  
OPENED B12 B13 SUB C 10 SUB C 22  
  
DOGMA L23 L24 DENIED  
  
"Damn him! Damn him! Damn him to hell!" Misato shrieked in her office. She angrily punched her desk. How could she have been so stupid? She had given the guest card to Logan, and now not only was the card unreturned, he had actually used it. Worse still, his failed attempts to open the secured doors in the Dogma was logged, and it was a matter of time before someone, Operations, Security, Intelligence, anyone, noticed. The trail would lead straight to her, and she had no excuse whatsoever. She typed hurriedly, recalling a detailed map of the Central Dogma and the lower levels, marking the doors that Logan had successfuly opened.  
  
"But why? He doesn't need it.. " Misato mumbled to herself. It was obvious to her that he had a way of opening most of the unsecured doors, using the card only to open certain doors, and ultimately, the failed attempts in the Dogma. She marked the doors he had opened, trying to figure out a pattern, which did not take long. Whether by chance or design, she saw that he had left a clear trail across the Geofront and Dogma.  
  
R-10-20  
  
Pretty impressive, he thought despite himself. A gigantic humanoid robot 60 feet tall. It was like living in one of the afternoon cartoons. He pushed the cartload of small machine parts towards a work station where technicians were busy welding on armor plates to the giant robot's foot. The stolen uniform worked wonders. No one had even given him a second glance since the second he stepped past the door. He caught a glimpse of something that looked like .. skin? flesh? under the metal plates. He blinked involuntarily. What kind of robot was this?  
  
He marveled briefly at the technological marvel they were building. He had expected robots to be boxy, but this Evangelion, as they called it, was wiry, thin, like a basketball player,even succesfully duplicating a human- looking musculature . The workers have been working 24 hours a day to finish the robot, called Unit Zero. He had been here almost five hours, disguised as a lowly technician, moving things from one place to another. He was slightly disappointed. Was this the agency's greatest secret? What did this thing have to do with the Weapon X program? There was no logical connection that he could see. Deep inside, he was wondering if he had done the right thing. The very fact of his being here meant he just burnt whatever bridges he had with Misato. Both of them had tried hard, in their own awkward ways, to reach out to each other, and he had destroyed all of it in an instant, the first time he used the stolen card.  
  
He continued his work, trying to catch snippets of conversations, only to be confounded most times by the incessant engineering technobabble. He grew angrier with himself for taking this bet, and losing. Suddenly, work came to a brief halt as an elevator door opened. He turned to see two women enter, both looking upset. He noted the white lab coat and red jacket, and immediately knew who it was that had just entered the huge construction bay, and why they were here. He lowered his cap to cover his face, and tried to move toward the shadows as inconspicously as possible.  
  
Misato and Ritsuko strode into the huge room, eyes glaring at every face they saw. Both women were incredibly angry, at Logan, and each other. Ritsuko found a foreman, and exchanged words with him, and Logan saw how he scurried towards a loudhailer. This isn't good, he thought. He noticed too, that Misato was now carrying a submachinegun instead of her usual pistol. She's really pissed, he thought to himself.  
  
"All personnel report for roll call! All personnel report for roll call!" He bit his lip. They knew. He quickly mingled with the other workers, then as soon as he had the chance, he slipped away from the group and hid in the shadows of the huge scaffolding that encased the robot.  
  
Both Ritsuko and Misato quickly sorted out the assembled workers and stared at each and every face, sometimes even tugging at beards and taking off caps. As they went through the workers, each became more agitated and sometimes yelled obscenities at the men, while casting angry glances at each other through tired, bloodshot eyes. As they finished, they ordered the workers to remain standing at attention. Not good, Logan thought to himself. The two women then did a terrible mistake. They had both simultaneously turned to face each other, causing their mutual pent-up aggravation to be released in a sudden burst of verbal violence. From his hiding place, his sensitive ears caught out snippets of the argument.  
  
"I can't believe your incompetence!" shouted one of the women. Ritsuko maybe, he thought.  
  
"You're not much help to anyone!" Misato shouted back at her. He strained to hear the rest.  
  
"Incompetence way beyond covering up.."  
  
"I should just have you shot and save time on the court martial!"  
  
"If you hadn't provided such lousy information maybe he wouldn't need to.."  
  
"For this... this! I had to beg Fuyutsuki not to send you to Aichi to die for that adamantium..."  
  
"You have no right to interfere in millitary matters!" Misato shouted.  
  
"You have no competence in millitary matters!" Ritsuko fired back, full of venom.  
  
The assembled workers stood there dumbly, but inside they were enjoying the catfight. There would be much talk at the NERV cafeterias for a few days.  
  
"Oh just stop nagging, you old hag!" Misato shouted at the top of her voice.  
  
"Hag?!" Ritsuko yelled back. She suddenly stopped yelling, her shoulders slumped, as if the word have struck a sensitive nerve center. Almost for the first time, she noticed the assembled workers, who still stood at attention, but were probably laughing at them inside.  
  
"Back to work," Ritsuko said tiredly, waving her hand at the workers. As she turned to leave, she stared daggers at Misato, who stood there, arms crossed across her chest, breathing hard in anger, blowing stray strands of hair away from her face. Her submachinegun lay at her side, hanging from its nylon strap from her right shoulder.  
  
"The Jasmine Falls briefing will be at 1200 sharp," Ritsuko hissed.  
  
"I know that," was Misato's curt reply.  
  
"I don't want to see you there," Ritsuko said, and immediately spun on her heel, her shapely legs striding away from the scene as fast as she could without sacrificing dignity. Misato walked away, using a separate exit from Ritsuko. Several hours later, as the outside world was about to see the dawn, he felt that it was time for him to continue his mission. The women had mentioned Aichi, adamantium and Jasmine Falls. He resolved to buy a detailed map of the Aichi province as soon as he got to the city above. Then it was just a matter of getting there first before they assaulted the place. He would need some fast transport, though.  
  
He slipped away as innocently as he could manage, away from the main body of workers, carefully making his way to a little-used elevator marked R-20. He had no idea where the elevator led, but he took his chances. The elevator went straight down, to his disappointment. He listened to the hum of the motor mechanism and the clicking of the instrument panels to break the boredom. Without so much as a jerk, the elevator perfectly stopped, its door opening with a slight whoosh. He stepped out quickly, lest his ride was discovered by that damn computer that seemed to run everything here. He saw a large, empty storage area, crates and boxes arranged with precision and care. The elevator door opened to an elevated walkway above the storage area. The thin metal railings could easily be jumped over, but he felt that the door on the other side of the room might have more promise. He quickly made his way to the door, his nose noting the faint smell of lavender.  
  
That was the first sign of trouble. The second was when the cold barrel of the gun was pressed against his back. Distracted, he chided himself. He silently raised his arms in the gesture of surrender.  
  
Misato's eyes narrowed as she pushed the barrel of the gun deeper into his back. "You disappoint me," was all that she could say, her voice masking her other feelings of rage, betrayal and even sadness. "No sudden moves. Point your hands straight up," she commanded. He did so without saying a word. "Extend your claws," she continued. He hesitated, wondering what was she thinking. "Do it!" Misato hissed. He extended his claws, the sharp adamantium piercing through the skin of his hand with a silent snickt sound.  
  
"Why, Logan, Why?" Misato asked in an entirely different tone of voice, almost pleading with him to help her make sense of his actions. "Ritsuko's told you everything you wanted. Why did you have to get greedy?"  
  
He snorted contemptuosly. "Huh. Some help. How can anyone trust what she says? She doesn't care for anyone, anything, least of all the truth. Least of all, you," he said. "Shut up," Misato snarled. "Walk where I tell you to. No heroics." She twisted his arms back, far enough to hurt a little. His extended claws cut into his arms, drawing thin trickles of blood with the slightest movement. She handcuffed him, then nudged him forward. "Better walk slow, `Wolverine`," Misato warned. "Any sudden moves, or try to retract those claws, and you'll sever an artery or two." She definitely knows her stuff, he noted. Under other circumstances, he'd be impressed.  
  
"Move." Misato issued the simple command. He obeyed. They slowly made their way across the elevated walkway. Misato's grip on her weapon was steady, she did not tremble or hesitate. Misato herself felt a deep chill the longer she stayed in the room. She had felt the cold hand of death touch her heart when she first stepped in this room. She saw flashing images of herself lying on the cold steel platform in front of the elevator, her blood rapidly flowing from underneath her. She saw herself looking at the R- 20 elevator, saw it move up, back to the construction bay, and she saw herself managing to smile weakly, mouthing something before dying. It had played in her mind for almost three hours while waiting for him. She had a gut feeling he would take this elevator, so she just stood there, alone, for three hours while the visions tormented her mind. She grimly pressed the barrel of her gun harder into Logan's back. Maybe she was destined to die here, she thought, but she'll give him several new holes in his body before she dies.  
  
"Faster," she said.  
  
"You wanted me to walk slow, darlin' " was his reply.  
  
"Shut up, walk faster," she snarled, losing patience. "Illegal entry, resisting arrest, spying, personal use of NERV property, possible sabotage.. And after your little sight seeing trip in the Eva bay, I should just shoot you now and save money on putting you on trial," she said, as they finally left the room. He heard her sigh with relief, for some unknown reason.  
  
"Darlin', would you blame me?" Logan asked as they made their way along the endless corridors.His claws cut thin lines into his arms. A thin trickle of his blood ran down his arm to his hands, making them slick. It'll heal, he knew from experience. "Walk a mile in my shoes and tell me I don't have the right to find out?"  
  
"No. But I must perform my duty," she answered back. "I'm sorry, really. If I was in another department, like Tactical, or Science, or Operations, I'd have turned a blind eye.But I'm not," Misato said. "So please, Logan. I know you're probably faster than I am, but let's not make it any harder." She paused. "For either one of us."  
  
They continued to walk in silence.  
  
Holding Cells  
  
No windows. No visible ventilation, just one light source. Just a bed and a toilet bowl. He walked into the cell, his expression betraying nothing as Misato shoved him into the holding cell, then he watched as the three-inch thick, solid steel door slid shut. He could slice his way out if he really needed to, and he knew Misato knew his capabilities, so he took the opportunity to use the bed for some much-needed sleep. She'll come crawling back, he thought.  
  
"You are not to talk to him, feed him or give him any medical attention whatsoever until I clear it, or I do it persoally, is that understood?" She ordered the guard.  
  
"Yes, Lieutenant," the guard answered. "In the event that he requires anything, says anything, or even breathes strangely.."  
  
"I report to you posthaste, ma'am."  
  
"Good. Remember that. He's a tricky little bastard," Misato said. "I'll be in briefing room 12D." She turned to leave, gritting her teeth in anticipation of what was about to happen.  
  
She stepped into the room, her eyes scanning the room. She saw various personnel from various branches of NERV, Investigations, Tactical, Intelligence, even one or two techs that she recognized. She stepped inside the room, looking for a good chair with a view, shrugging off the knowing stares of some of the men. She found a nice metal folding chair that was exactly front and center. It was occupied.  
  
She laid her hand on the sargeant's shoulder, moving her lips close to the woman's ear. "Move, Denise," she hissed.  
  
"I was here first, Misato," was her reply. Misato's voice dropped into a conspiratorial whisper. "Don't make me distribute those photos from the security cameras, Denise."  
  
The woman's face went pale. "Misato! You wouldn't! You're not kidding ....are you?" Misato shook her head, her hair lightly brushing against Denise's shoulder. She got the message, immediately standing up and making her way to the back of the room. Misato smiled.  
  
The door opened behind her. Misato could tell it was Ritsuko by the tapping sound of her heels on the floor as she walked. Ritsuko walked right past her, briefly glancing sideways with a blank expression on her face. She stood in front of the room, a large display screen flickering to life behind her.  
  
"I am Doctor Akagi Ritsuko, Chief Scientist," she introduced herself, unnecessarily. "I will brief you on the non-millitary aspects of this operation." Misato stared intently ahead. "First of all, this action would involve unsanctioned activity on Japanese soil, so any Japanese citizens who might feel uncomfortable with the operational plans are welcome to back out now," she said calmly, as several people got up and left quietly. Misato stayed.  
  
"Three days ago, a sample of a rare metal called adamantium was stolen from the Project E labs," Ritsuko said, to some slight murmurs from the assembled people. There had been talk. "This metal is the hardest known on Earth, and is a vital component in the development of the Eva weapons systems,"  
  
Ritsuko's eyes narrowed as she continued. "The people responsible are members of a fringe lunatic cult who have been actively engaged in acts of random terror towards agency personnel in the past and present." Ritsuko paused, taking a quick sip from a mineral water bottle. "We have every reason to believe our adamantium is being hidden in one of the old Gehirn lab complexes in Aichi, at a place known as Jasmine Falls. Intelligence has indicated that these people are heavily armed and are receiving material support from an unknown benefactor." Misato nodded slowly as Ritsuko continued to read out her memorized speech.  
  
What Logan would give me to be hearing this, she thought to herself. She made plans.  
  
"That concludes my briefing. Tactical will give the operational briefing after a five minute break," Ritsuko said, immediately stepping outside the room, probably heading back to her labs.  
  
"I have a plan. It's risky, but I don't think you have a choice," Misato said to him in the darkened holding cell.  
  
He looked up at her, expressionless.  
  
"You're going to help us retrieve the sample. I'll give you a head start to sneak in, soften up the opposition, and get the hell out of our way when we move in," she said, her gaze fixed on his silent form on the bed.  
  
"And afterwards, I'll buy you a beer," Logan said with a hint of sarcasm, his eyes still staring at the ceiling. "What's in it for me?" he asked, feigning disinterest.  
  
Misato unlocked the door, which slid in with a silent whoosh. Her shadow darkened the doorway, adding to the darkness already in the room. Logan got up from the bed, surprised that she didn't feel the need to try and hide behind the thick steel. With the door opened, it would only take seconds for him to maim her and escape. What was she up to?  
  
"I don't know. Isn't this enough? Isn't this what you wanted?" Misato asked him.  
  
"Why?"  
  
Misato looked away. "With those claws, you can kill quietly. Your healing factor makes you last just a little longer than the rest of us. And you have no connection to the agency. There'd be.." She paused.  
  
"No liability," he said, cutting her off. He had heard the phrase often enough.  
  
Think fast, Kaji mentally reminded himself as he sat in the back of the confessional service. Ritsuko would have figured out the location of the adamantium pretty quickly and there could be truckloads of NERV agents on their way even now. Brother Pierce trusted him to look after the adamantium, which was good. He also entrusted Creed, the feral guy that calls himself Sabretooth, to look after it. That was bad. Then there was also the matter of the metal itself. The sample was pretty heavy and it'd take a strong man to move it around, which he was not.  
  
Kaji now wished he had been a real journalist, instead of just using it as a cover for his activities. Brother Pierce was in front, laying his hand on the head of a new initiate. Kaji unconsciously tapped the leg holster where he secretly kept his gun. The faint metallic tapping reassured him, unlike Brother Pierce. Pierce was beginning to disturb even him.Lately, Pierce was talking more and more about Mother Diana. Mother Diana, according to Pierce, would take the souls of the chosen when the Angels came to Earth and triggered the Third Impact. While the unworthy would die in the Impact, Mother Diana would save the worthy and take them into herself and away to Heaven.  
  
It was very strange theology, Kaji knew that much. There was no mention of this Mother Diana in the Scrolls. He shrugged it off as just another heresy. Now, if Pierce was saying that it was now time to join with Mother Diana, he'd be worried. He shrugged to himself while quietly leaving the service. It wasn't comfortable, listening to the cultists confess to a murder, and Brother Pierce issuing forgiveness. He feared that he would snap and go on a rampage if he were to hear a certain name mentioned. He walked past empty, whitewashed corridors to one of the old storage rooms, unconverted by the cultists. It still had some old Gehirn equipment untidily stacked in a corner. He opened the makeshift wooden door, only to be greeted by a low, animal snarl as he stepped inside the room.  
  
"Whoa! Down, boy!," Kaji exclaimed, used to the barely masked hostility.  
  
"Runt," snarled Creed. "What'cha want?"  
  
Kaji shrugged, as nonchalantly as he could. "Nothing important."  
  
"Then get lost, runt,"  
  
Kaji calmly lit a cigarette, showing no emotion other than the cheerful carefree facade that he cultivated. "Don't think so. Brother Pierce said we both look after that lump," he said, briefly nodding in the direction of the precious adamantium that they were charged with guarding. "Listen, I say we move this somewhere else."  
  
Creed's eyes gleamed coldly in the dim light. He was the mutant killer Sabretooth, and the idea of putting up with a little dishevelled annoying pest like Kaji was beginning to get to him. Still, Mystique told him to play nice with these religious loonies until they could figure out a way to make money from the adamantium, and playing nice with Kaji was a pretty explicit order. Until she showed up again, he played his role of obedient flunky to Brother Pierce. "Keep talking, squirt," he said.  
  
"Here's how I see it. I don't think Chairman Lorenz is playing it even with us. NERV's coming. I don't care how many laser rifles we stole, this storeroom is the lousiest place to put something so important. Don't you think so?" he asked with a knowing smile. Creed's eyes bore a hole through Kaji's skull. The little man was a master of doublespeak. He might be genuinely concerened the metal could be stolen. Or he could be testing his loyalties. Perhaps Kaji wanted the metal for himself, and was trying to trick him. Creed hoped Mystique would come back from Tokyo-3 soon so he can get her permission to slit Kaji's throat and be done with his little games. He let a low growl escape his lips. Kaji took the hint, gave him some excuse and walked off, but not without a parting shot.  
  
"You know, I heard Wolverine was skulking around Central Dogma. So it's either NERV, or him.." Kaji's voice trailed off as he left the room. 


	9. Reprisal 0:9 Into the depths

1 Dogma  
  
Deep in Central Dogma, in a section that was practically sealed off to the rest of the agency, Ritsuko Akagi and Commander Ikari walked through a long, dimly lit corridor. She glanced at him, noting that his jaw was tightly clenched in serious determination. It was the expression he wore to committee meetings, it was the expression he wore in his office, it was the expression he showed Fuyutsuki, and even here, alone with her, the commander wore the same expression. Ritsuko felt slightly disappointed. At least, she thought, Misato openly displays her human side when off-duty. She spoke, breaking the silence that the two of them had held since coming here.  
  
"Commander," she said, eliciting a mumbled reply from Ikari.  
  
"About Kaji... You're not seriously going to offer him employment, are you?"  
  
"I am considering it," Ikari said, momentarily pausing to push his glasses closer to his eyes. "He has proven himself useful."  
  
"For all we know, commander, he probably had a hand in stealing it in the first place!" Ritsuko protested, her voice raised slightly. She checked herself. It was no good to be emotional here. "He could even be a mole for Lorenz," she suggested. He didn't take her bait, instead, he continued to walk faster, forcing Ritsuko to speed up to catch up with him. "You're counting on it, aren't you?" she asked, more insistently. "Keep your friends close," as she reached her hand out to grab his "and your enemies closer? Is that it?"  
  
"Doctor," the commander said. "We have bigger problems to deal with than that simpleton. Lorenz grows impatient with each delay. If we were to tip our hand too early we lose everything," he briefly gave Ritsuko's hand a small squeeze before releasing it. "We will keep them distracted with the Lance of Longinus business for a little while longer. I don't care about the copies. We only need to recover the original from the Antarctic. The problem now is regarding Rei..." his voice trailed off.  
  
"Rei?" Ritsuko asked. "It seems that Lorenz managed to develop one of his own..." Ritsuko's blood froze. It was bad enough that her work on Rei was destroying her very soul, but the very idea of Lorenz duplicating the work was inhuman. "He's even refined the process we used for Rei," he coldly said; "but unlike with Rei, there are no backups. It would be easier for us to find where he's keeping this girl, Trianna and.."  
  
Ritsuko didn't want to hear any more and cut him off. "I am sure you'll find a solution, Commander. But if this is so, should I call off the operation to recover the adamantium?"  
  
"No," was the curt reply. They came to the end of the corridor, where a thick steel door blocked their way. As Ikari slid his identification card he said to her "we have to keep up appearances, at the very least we should pretend we care."  
  
Ritsuko felt her heart sink.  
  
"Of course, Commander," she said.  
  
The door slid open, and a little girl, physically about ten to twleve, stood in the doorway, as if to greet them. Her skin was pale, practically albino. Her gently rounded face contrasted with the elfin sharpness of her nose and jaw. Ritsuko found herself drawn to the eyes again, the girl's eyes were quite round and large, and her pupils were an inhuman shade of red. They were the windows to the soul, yet many times when she stared into those red eyes, she had felt sure there was nothing there. Her body seemed frail and slightly thin. She wore a thin green medical gown which hung from her body limply, the strings hanging untied behind her. Her short hair, a strange shade of blue that bordered on grey, was uncombed again. Ritsuko had been trying to teach her the basics of civilized grooming but just like with many other things, it seemed that she didn't care.  
  
"Hello Rei," Ikari said, smiling warmly as his eyes landed on her form. The girl, Rei, smiled back, more an imitation of Ikari's smile than a genuine response. "Doctor Akagi's here. We will continue the sync tests now." Rei simply nodded and walked to the lab, as she had always done.  
  
As Ritsuko followed Rei and Ikari into the labs, her eyes gazed at the tanks filled with liquid LCL and the dark, shadowy forms that floated within. She had helped to create and maintain these things in the tanks. Rei was the sin of Ritsuko's predecessors at Gehirn which she had willingly inherited. She had joined the ranks of those who tried to play God.  
  
Ritsuko briefly wondered whether it was the same with the other girl, Trianna. Did Trianna's minders feel this way every time they look at her? Do they even consider her as a human being, or simply as replaceable meat? Did she look exactly like Rei if the data and methods were similar?  
  
She shook her head, refusing to think about it any further, trying to concentrate on running the tests on Rei. It was for no less than the destiny of humankind itself, she repeated to herself. Only those with a particular genetic mutation can synchronize with the Evas well enough to even try piloting them. So far, NERV has been training a girl in Germany who had the mutation. Only one..  
  
We need pilots for the Evas, she told herself over and over and over.Any way we can get them, she reminded herself.  
  
It was like what Naoko told her when she first commented on the situation.  
  
"If we can't find pilots, we'll make pilots."  
  
"Try to synchronize again, Rei. If it still hurts, try and ignore the pain a little longer this time," said Ritsuko as she began.  
  
Ritsuko wondered whether she was telling this to Rei, or herself.  
  
Ready Room  
  
"Damn that Ritsuko..." Misato mumbled under her breath as she slammed the phone hard onto the receiver. Where could she be, Misato wondered. The encounter with the shapechanger in Central Dogma came to her mind. It was stupid, plain stupid, for Ritsuko to disappear like this. What if that shapechanger wasn't dead?  
  
"Problems with the icy blonde, darlin'?" Logan teased her. Misato bit her lip. She forgot about his inhumanly sensitive hearing. "Oh, it's nothing," Misato said with false cheerfulness. "I thought since I won't be around for a while, she might as well look after my car.."  
  
He had heard this kind of talk before. Many times, at many battlefields around the world. He looked around the bare room, one of countless hundreds in the Geofront. A few lockers lined the far wall. They had each opened one and helped themselves to the contents.  
  
Her beloved red jacket, blouse and miniskirt lay in a crumpled heap on the floor.  
  
In its place, Misato now wore a one-piece, black jumpsuit. She stuffed ammunition pouches into its pockets, carefully zipping them closed. A wicked-looking combat knife hung upside down on her chest, suspended in its sheath by elastic webbing. The suit outlined her body well, he thought as he watched her pull her long hair from under the collar and tie it into a tight bun, then covering it with a black cap. Her expression was one of concentration, trying to make sure everything was done correctly. She checked her sidearm and knife to make sure they were secure.  
  
He watched her in quiet appreciation. Misato looked hot in combat gear, he admitted to himself. Just like the time he saw her drunk stupid in the bar, her true beauty surfaced when appearance was the last thing on her mind. Misato paused to make sure she had everything she wanted, and he took the opportunity to speak.  
  
"You're worried about not coming back, aren't you?" he asked.  
  
He didn't need to wait for an answer. "You wanted Ritsuko to have your car just in case.." She didn't reply. "That's kinda sweet, tell ya the truth." Misato looked at him, her eyes kinder than they had been lately.  
  
"So..."  
  
"So..?" Misato asked, slightly puzzled.  
  
"You still mad I saw your giant robot thing?" he asked. If Ritsuko could have the car, he could at least try to even things with her. She seemed to be in the right mood for forgiveness.  
  
"Yes, I am," she told him. "But it doesn't mean I can't forgive you for it," she said.  
  
"Man's gotta do what a man's gotta do, right?" she asked him, without bothering for an answer. "I understand obsession, Logan. At least, I used to think so, before I met you.." Misato's voice trailed off.  
  
"Look at me, Logan. Risking my life for scrap metal. Because everyone tells me it's the only thing that can kill an Angel. Because I want to see them all dead. So I do all this," she said, her arms spread wide, trying to encompass the whole room in one gesture.  
  
"Revenge for Second Impact," Logan said knowingly. "You and every other brown uniform in this pit"  
  
Misato sat down besides him, staring off at the floor, an arm wrapped around his shoulders. She leaned into him, resting her head on his arm. "I figured I knew what I was willing to do to get what I wanted. Then I met you. You'd destroy everything you ever had, for knowledge that might only hurt you. I'm not sure if that's what I want, now." she said, pulling away from him. Misato's watch beeped, shocking her out of her reverie.  
  
"Five o'clock. We just missed your funeral," Misato said, her lips barely moving, the humor failing to register in her voice. She had claimed that Logan killed himself in the holding cell, then forged Ritsuko's signature on the autopsy reports.Misato was an expert in forging that particular signature. An empty cardboard coffin was placed on the conveyor belt in the garbage incinerator for effect. As far as her superiors are concerned, the paper trail was closed. The deal was she would grant him freedom in exchange for his help, and she had lived up to her end of the bargain. "So I guess it's okay for you to be seen outside now. Do you remember the cover identity?" she asked.  
  
"Sgt. Hugh Stanley, Tactical, Japan, 09153, or did I miss something?" he asked her back. Misato smiled. "What kind of stupid name is Hugh anyway?" he asked rhetorically. Misato felt the urge to to tell him not to make fun of the dead. The real Sgt. Hugh was one of the murder cases that she was investigating before she met Logan and her world turned inside out. Instead, she just stood there in front of him, and slowly brought her face closer to his. She closed her eyes and gently kissed him, his lips felt rough and tasted of tobacco. Just as she felt him overcome his resistance and beginning to respond, she broke the kiss abruptly.  
  
"What was that for?" he asked, smiling. Misato merely smiled back, and slid her ID card into the reader, opening the door. Then he remembered why she was so desperate to call Ritsuko, and he let the matter drop.  
  
"Remember our agreement, Logan," Misato said as she turned to walk away. He had been seen with Misato previously, and she didn't want to introduce him to the agency yet, so he has to make his own travel arrangements to Jasmine Falls.  
  
A certain blue Renault Alpine came to mind.  
  
Commander's Office  
  
"Ikari!" the voice on the phone was insistent, demanding.  
  
"No. This is Fuyutsuki," replied NERV's second in command. He was waiting in the office for the Commander to show up. He was certainly taking his sweet time with Rei in the Dogma. The affection Ikari showed the girl was disturbing, even more so when Fuyutsuki knew what the blue-haired girl really was. "What can I do for you, Chairman?" Fuyutsuki asked, already guessing the answer.  
  
"Where is Ikari?" Lorenz asked, impatience evident in his voice. "Have you begun recovery?"  
  
"We will make our move in a few hours," Fuyutsuki stated.  
  
"Have Ikari telephone me at Kiellinghof when it begins," was the simple command. Then the silent click of a dead phone line.  
  
Kiellinghof, Fuyutsuki thought to himself. Gehirn's old gene-splicing facility. So Ikari was right about that aspect of the game.  
  
Misato saw the lights are on in the window where the Commander's office is. So it seems that Commander Ikari wouldn't be seeing the troops off on this mission after all. It had to be the deniability aspect, she consoled herself. She walked in silence with a few other black-clad operatives to the elevators that would take them out of the Geofront into the sleeping city of Tokyo-03 above. Nobody spoke a word as the high speed elevator silently whirred them above. From the elevators to the trucks, to the pickup zone in the hills surrounding the city. A few hours riding the helicopter to Aichi prefecture, and then, her date with destiny.  
  
Ritsuko walked with Ikari along the corridor outside his office. It was brighter, cooler here, a direct contrast with the lower levels of the Dogma that they just left. The latest round of tests were complete, and she was glad for it. She saw Fuyutsuki in the commander's office as she stepped in after the commander.  
  
"Ikari," Fuyutsuki said, in a tone that Ritsuko was beginning to recognize.  
  
"Tell him I'm unavailable."  
  
"That isn't wise, Ikari. We don't want to exhaust his goodwill."  
  
Ikari slowly lowered himself into his chair. He faced both Fuyutsuki, his trusted deputy, and Ritsuko. He steepled his hands, resting his jaw on them, his eyes inscrutable behind the glint of his tinted eyeglasses.  
  
"You're right, of course, Fuyutsuki-sensei. It is still too early in the game. We can't fight SEELE now"  
  
"Call him at Kiellinghof when it's time," Fuyutsuki reminded him.  
  
"The power of a God...." Ritsuko silently said to herself. That was the whole point of this, of everything. The Dead Sea Scrolls foretold it. She recalled the part that she was allowed to read. He who defeats the Seventeen Messengers from God would have ....  
  
Ikari heard her, turning his eyes on her.  
  
"No. That is what he wants," Ikari said. "We seek to make sure he doesn't get what he wants."  
  
"He wants the adamantium," Ritsuko said, wiping her brow with the sleeve of her lab coat.  
  
"He will not get what he truly wants," Ikari said, a hint of menace tinged his voice now.  
  
Logan tried to avoid the eyes of the other people on the train, instead preferring to keep his gaze out the window, as the Geofront and the pyramid building grows smaller, the cable car being hauled up to be set gently down onto the city's train tracks in a few minutes. He did some quick mental preparations. It was almost 8 in the evening. Tokyo-03 was in the Tokai area of Kanto Prefecture. Jasmine Falls in Aichi Prefecture would be a few hours drive.  
  
The @#%$ will hit the fan, so to speak, in the pre-dawn hours. By sunrise next morning, his quest would come to an end. 


	10. Reprisal 1:0 Jasmine Falls

****

Jasmine Falls 

It wasn't much to look at. A simple two-storey building in a grassy field. In the distance, he could see a small waterfall, and smell the jasmines that were blooming. Any other time, he'd find it serene, relaxing, but now his senses were working overtime, trying to detect anyone that could put him in harm's way. The dim moonlight was enough for him to see with, with his enhanced, superhuman senses. He concentrated, trying to fix in on the smell of humans in the area. It was there, faint, as if masked. 

He had left Misato's car in the woods a few miles back, and as he made his way here to Jasmine Falls. It was still in the small hours, and he could still hear the loud chirping of crickets which told him that he had made it here before Misato. He made his way across the open field, keeping his profile low and moving as quiet as a shadow. The building had heavily tinted windows, but he could make out the interior quite well. The interior of the building was quite sparse, the original furnishings must have been removed, he thought, leaving nothing but bare walls and concrete floor. And a wide staircase leading down, unguarded. He used his claws to cut open a hole in a window, small enough for him to unlatch it and enter. He didn't trust the doors, not after his experience with the computer controlled doors at the Geofront. 

He quickly made his way down the wide staircase, coming down to a junction of narrow corridors. Gehirn architects, he ruefully thought to himself. Fortunately he memorized the maps Misato showed him. He made his way left along the brightly-lit corridor. He didn't see any cameras, no booby traps. It was like dealing with amateurs. He heard the whirr of helicopters overhead. He cursed, they got here early.   
  
"Everyone get ready! We're moving in!" shouted the pilot over the headset. Five agency helicopters bore down on the open field, the men and women inside pouring out the sides in a perfectly rehearsed maneouvre. Their cargo safely off, the helicopters took off again, heading for Tokyo-3. They would only return when their mission is complete. 

Misato and the others ran as hard as they could towards the building, as one of them fired a rocket-propelled grenade at a wall, knocking it down with a loud bang. They ran towards the smoking hole, weapons ready, and made their way down the central staircase without meeting any resistance. A small detachment split off from the main group, as they made their way along the long winding corridors. Someone gave the group the order to halt.

Misato was ordered to come forward, and as she quickly made her way to the point man, she saw the two bodies on the ground. She understood perfectly what was expected of her. Shouldering her weapon, she roughly turned the two bodies with her foot, just like in training. They were dead all right, she signalled to her group. She smiled as she saw Logan's handiwork. He kept his end of the bargain. She gave the all-clear and continued moving.

"Down!" someone shouted, as several beams of laser light hit the tunnel behind them. Misato's group hit the ground and began pumping the corridor ahead with lead. That's the experimental laser rifles from the armory, she thought. Just what else could these people throw at them? She fired a few rounds at something moving in the distance. It was going to be hard to move when the enemy had these kind of weapons. They were going to have to crawl every inch of the way and kill everything that moved. Which meant the enemy was trying to buy time. She crawled forward to her section leader, who has reloading his weapon.

"Sir! I'm going to find a way to flank the enemy!" she shouted to her commander, more a statement than a request, which he waved through. She got up and ran, miraculously not being hit by enemy fire, and managed to turn a corner, breathing a little heavily. 

"Okay," she thought. "Find a way around, or get Logan and get him to go through," she decided . She ran, the sounds of gunfire and screams fading away from her ears. The cultists responded a little early, she thought ruefully. She made her way through the corridors, chillingly empty. She heard a skittling sound to her left and chased off in hot pursuit. It was possibly an enemy contact, and she had to make sure that whoever it was didn't interfere with her group's mission.

"Logan!" she shouted, as he turned a corner, trying to find someone, something that could lead him to the prize. He immediately spun on his heel towards the direction of the voice. He relaxed a little when he saw it was Misato running at him. She stopped a few feet from him, a little breathless from the exertion. 

"Hey girl," he said, smiling. "Where's the rest of your happyland crew?" he asked. Misato spoke with long pauses in between breaths, obviously a little tired. "Firefight.. I'm supposed..find a way around. How's about giving a poor girl a hand, eh?" she asked of him. He barked a little laugh. "Sure," he said. "I'll walk point and you cover me." He started to make his way down the corridor, Misato behind him, weapon drawn. The smell of her perfume wafted into his nostrils. It was almost funny, Misato wearing Chanel no. 5 to combat. 

Then it hit him. 

The bullet struck his shoulder blade just as he tried to roll away. Misato snarled in frustration. It hurt, but nothing really serious.

"Nice try, bitch!" he snarled at Misato, or rather, Mystique impersonating Misato. She didn't feel like changing back to her normal form, deciding instead to use this body to taunt him. She laughed cruelly. "You and your little slut won't walk away this time, Wolverine," she taunted, the gun trying to find a vital spot. 

"And there's no hole you can throw yourself down, either," he said, charging as the gun went off and hit him square in the ribs. He staggered back, but fortunately the bullet failed to penetrate, instead, it hit his adamantium-coated ribcage and stayed there in his chest, until he quickly picked it out with his fingers. Mystique took advantage of the situation to aim the gun at his head, but Logan wasn't worried. He could hear the pitter-patter of running feet, and he recognized the sound the boots made on concrete. Still, he had been a little careless. If Mystique had used the lavender perfume that the real Misato was fond of, he'd be in deep trouble. 

Mystique gasped in shock as a shot went through her hand, shattering the bones and making her drop the gun. Cursing, she turned around to see Misato charging at her. She ran towards Misato, planning to launch a flying kick, but Misato was faster, landing her foot square on Mystique's chest before she could even jump. She was thrown back, towards Logan, who wasted no time grabbing her and throwing her hard on the floor, his hands quickly grabbing her neck and squeezing the air out of her lungs before she could do anything about it. The shock and pain broke her concentration and she slowly turned back to her blue-skinned, scaly natural form as Logan tightened his hands on her throat. 

"Know what this is? It's payback. This is for the shit you put me through in Seoul," Logan snarled. 

"Wasn't.. me.." Mystique managed to say. 

"Who was it that tried to get Ritsuko at my apartment? Did you have anything to do with that?" Misato yelled. 

"Don't.. know.. guy.. SEELE sent him, does whatever Pierce tells him to.." Mystique said, between coughs. 

"WHY?" Logan shouted again, his fingers digging deeper into her throat.

"SEELE wants you out of the picture," Mystique snarled, as Logan's hands began to choke the life out of her. 

"You ain't answering me. Now, before I forget I'm a nice guy. Tell me. Why?!" he asked again, angrily, his spittle running down the corner of his mouth as he tried to control the bloodlust. 

"Who? Who's SEELE?" Misato shouted at Mystique.

"Adamantium," Mystique gasped. "They want the adamantium," then she cast her baleful yellow eyes at Misato, pleading with her to make Logan let go. 

"That's enough, Logan!" Misato shouted. He looked at her like she just sprouted a third eye on her forehead, but he let go of Mystique's throat. 

"They own you," Mystique said, her eyes burning into Misato's own. "You do their dirty work but don't even know it!" she croaked, coughing blood as she desperately fought her injuries. Misato had so many questions to ask, but she knew there wasn't much time. She knew it probably wasn't effective, but she quickly cuffed Mystique's arm to a metal pipe mounted at the wall. 

"Why do they want it?" Misato asked hurriedly. 

"Because they want to be gods," Mystique snarled. Misato didn't spare the time to try and understand the cryptic answer. Logan was already dashing down a corridor, and Misato had to keep up with him, or lose him.   
  
The cultists had dug this tunnel with shovels and pickaxes over the past few months, and they were glad for the investment. Kaji and Creed made their way down the rough tunnel in almost pitch-darkness. Creed carried the metal, slung over his back in a hastily wrapped sheet of canvas, as Kaji covered their rear. He certainly didn't want to get shot by NERV now, that would be an ironic death, seeing that he was the one who called them here. 

"Logan! Logan! Slow down!" Misato shouted after him, as he ran this way and that, his nose held up high as if to chase the scent of something. She could barely keep up with him, even as she shouted out for help from her comrades. 

"Takeda! Davis! Anyone!" Misato shouted, only to be greeted with the echoes of Logan's footsteps. Where the hell was everyone else? She turned a corner, only to see him, claws extended, snarling at a dead end. She gripped her weapon tightly, unsure of what his reaction would be. She was relieved, if still surprised, to see him kick and claw at the wall in front of him, with a low-pitched animal growl, until the wall basically collapsed, revealing a rough-hewn passageway behind it. This wasn't in her maps. 

He turned to face her, his teeth gritted in a ferocious mask of hate. 

Kaji felt the tunnel slope upwards, gently at first, then the incline got higher and higher, and eventually, he could see a dim light up ahead. He bounded forward, almost overtaking Creed's steady, unhurried gait as they both made it out, to the open field near the small waterfall, the light of the false dawn highlighting the small white building, which looked so peaceful now that they're too far away to hear the gunfire. 

"I'm going to skewer a little rat I shoulda skewered a long while back," Logan said to her. "You better get back to your own people. This ain't your business," he warned her. Misato narrowed her eyes angrily, her finger gravitating towards the trigger of her weapon. "Is the adamantium down there?" she asked with as much authority as she could muster. 

"Well, is it?!" Misato asked, more insistent this time. He merely turned his back on her and ran into the passage. 

"Then I'm coming with you," Misato said to Logan's back.   
  
"Now what?" Kaji asked aloud. There was no way they could make it out of here on foot. There was no cover. They were still screwed. 

A whining and whirring sound answered him from above, silently at first, then getting louder and louder, the wind picking up as the sound got closer, whipping his ponytail around. A helicopter. Creed smiled in satisfaction. Kaji noted the type of helicopter, the futuristic sharp angles, the dull gleam of high-tech polycarbonate plates, and the relative silence of the rotor blades. It was a helicopter design he had never seen before. 

A door slid open, as an attractive young woman stuck her neck out of the helicopter and beckoned them to get in. They hurriedly made their way towards freedom. 

A salvo of bullets stopped them, ricocheting off the ground and hitting Kaji in the ankle. As he fell, he saw Creed dump the sack on the ground to face their attackers, who were emerging from the shadows of the tunnel. Creed adopted a fighting stance, ready to charge and rip out the guts of whoever it was. 

Kaji painfully tried to stand up, the whirring rotor blades whipping up small eddies of dust into his face. He hobbled a bit, trying to ascertain the damage to his leg. It hurt to stand, but it wasn't too bad. Whoever shot at him was good at his work. 

Then a figure, stocky and muscular, leapt out of the tunnel towards Creed. Creed snarled and leapt forward, meeting the enemy head on, punches and claws flying as they collided with a thud and fought and gouged each other, rolling on the ground. 

It was Wolverine, and he was pissed. 

The helicopter stayed there, its pilot unsure whether to stay or flee.   
  
Creed drove a fist squarely on Logan's nose, the impact twisting his head with a sickening crack. Logan reeled back, snarling as he stopped the momentum of the blow and charged forward, slashing at his opponent. Kaji merely stood back, placing his weight on the uninjured foot. This was a crucial moment and his next course of action would determine the future. 

"You! Stay there! Hands where I can see them!" shouted a female voice emerging from the darkness. 

Kaji's next course of action was to stand rock-still, as Creed and Logan traded blows. He felt sick. He knew the voice. 

Misato emerged from the dark tunnel, her eyes darting back and forth from the fight between Logan and the big wild man, and the slim young man with his hands in the air. The silhouette was familiar to her. 

Logan sent Creed reeling with a knee to the gut, but Creed managed to slash his own claws on Logan's face, leaving four jagged rivulets of blood on his left cheek. Logan sheathed his claws, his hand wiping the blood from his face, and licking the warm salty blood, spitting it out on the ground as Creed laughed maniacally. 

"First blood, runt," Creed said haughtily. Logan glowered, sizing up his opponent, looking for an opening. He was aware of something going on with that slimy bastard Kaji, but he figured Misato could deal with him first.   
  
"KAJI?!!" Misato practically shrieked. 

Logan felt some surprise she knew the slimeball. Creed chuckled softly as they both circled each other. He made a lunge for Logan, but he dodged it, whirling around as soon as Creed's bulk went past him. 

"Well well, loverboy's in trouble," Creed said in a gloating tone. 

"Not as much as you're in right now, bub," Logan said, as a guttural cry escaped his lips and he charged his opponent, claws slashing wildly.   
  
"Katsuragi. I can explain this. Your superiors can explain.." 

"Shut up, Kaji! Just shut up!" Misato said, holding back tears of some strange emotion she couldn't identify. "You filthy double dealing _bakayaro_! How could you do this!?" 

Kaji just eyed her nervously. 

Logan clutched his stomach, where Creed managed to slash him, the blood already soaking his shirt. He howled in rage and battle-lust, as Creed nursed the arm where Logan stabbed it with his claws. Creed slowly made his way to the discarded adamantium, backing away inch by inch away from his enemy. 

"Do you have any idea of what you've done?" Misato shouted wildly at Kaji, locks of her hair being whipped in her eyes by the downdraft from the waiting helicopter. "You could have destroyed all humanity!" 

Kaji stood there on one leg, arms raised in surrender. It was time he used the Ritsuko card. 

"Katsuragi," he shouted, above the din, "Ritsuko can explain all this. I'm working on your side," 

"WHAT?!" shouted Creed, his head swivelling to take a look at the traitor. It was enough of a lapse to let Logan stab him in the chest with his claws. With a sickening crunch, Logan felt his claws cut through one or two of Creed's ribs before he savagely pulled them out. Creed made no sound as he staggered a few steps, then fell down. 

"Look, I'm surrendering, okay? Take me back to the Geofront and find out then, if that's what you want." Kaji said, sounding exasperated. 

"I don't believe you.' Misato snarled.

"Just shoot him, girl," growled Logan. His eyes bore a hole through Kaji's skull. There was no telling of how many times Kaji probably screwed with them both. It could have been him trying to assasinate him back in Seoul. He could have sent Mystique out to steal the adamantium that he needed to figure out the fragments of his past. He had a simple policy that he lived with. Backstabbers get stabbed in the heart.

The pilot of the helicopter decided he didn't want any part to play in this drama and decided to take off.   
  
"Hands in the air! Drop on your knees now!" Misato shouted. Kaji complied, mercifuly giving his injured ankle a rest. As she made her way to him, ignoring the downdraft of the departing helicopter, she felt a hand clamp on her wrist. 

It was Logan's hand. "Don't tell me you're taking him in?" he asked, incredulous. "He's too dangerous a slimeball. Shoot him now and get it over with," he told her. Misato was taken aback at the suggestion. Sure, she had felt like shooting him, but when the opportunity presented itself, she didn't pull the trigger. Kaji looked at her with desperation in his eyes. 

"No. I'm not you," was her simple reply, shaking her wrist free of him.Kaji's expression changed from fear to uncertainty, as if he was about to make a big, important decision. Misato holstered her weapon, reaching for a pair of handcuffs attached to her belt. "You never change, do you? Always causing me problems. What kind of girl would even love someone like you?" she mumbled to Kaji. 

Kaji opened his mouth to say something.

"DIE!!" 

Logan whirled around, but it was too late to stop Creed from rushing past him towards Misato and Kaji. He had forgotten about Creed's own mutant healing factor and it had cost him. Creed quickly bounded the distance, and struck kneeling, helpless Kaji across the chest with his claws, despite Misato's desperate attempt to push him aside. Kaji gasped in shock, then mercifully slumped to the ground, unconscious.

"No!" Misato shouted, before unleashing a left hook at his head with all her might.It connected, but Creed showed no response. He raced towards the abandoned canvas sack Logan chased after him. The helicopter made a dramatic turn, and swooped down low, releasing a long rope ladder for Creed, which he grabbed. 

Logan managed to slash at his legs as the helicopter pulled him up with the heavy adamantium, but it wasn't enough. He had tried to grab the ladder himself but Creed made it impossible, kicking him away before he could reach for it.

Creed managed to flash a rude sign in contempt at Logan as he was whisked away.

Logan howled a long, horrible, animal howl which was horrible for Misato to hear. She rushed to Kaji's side, to see if he would make it. 

"Stand aside. Let me kill the scum," Logan said coldly. 

"No. He goes back with me. NERV will be most interested with him." Just as she herself would be very interested to know what Ritsuko knew about this and wouldn't tell her. Ritsuko's secretive nature had cost her much this night.

"You'll never make it in this business," he barked at her. "You're too soft. He drops a few names and you .."

"Oh shut up, Logan!" Misato shouted, exasperated. She didn't expect him to understand. She stood up, and turned to face him as fast as she could, bearing her weapon down on him in one swift motion. "I've had enough of your bad-ass routine, you hear me? You couldn't even keep that man down even when you wanted to!"

She pointed her weapon at him, the look in her eyes indicating she would have no problem pulling the trigger.

"We had a deal," he reminded her.

"No recovery. Deal's off," she snarled back at him. "If you think I'm too soft, this is the time to find out, Logan. Even if it hurts me more than you…" her voice trailed off. Her ferocity in protecting Kaji surprised even herself. 

Logan raised his arms as Misato stepped close towards him. "Neither one of us wants this," Logan told her.

"I must do my duty, Logan," she replied. He sighed, staring at Kaji's slumped form. There was a spreading bloodstain on his shirt, but Creed didn't cut deep. He'll live. "We debrief the two of you," Misato said. "Once we're satisfied you pose no threat to the agency, we let you go. That's the best deal I can salvage from this monumental screwup," Misato said back. 

"Then I guess there really is no other way, darlin' " Logan said, disappointed. 

There was a slight sadness in her eyes. "I am sorry, for all it's worth. I've never met a man quite like you," she said as she slowly inched closer, close enough to try and cuff his wrists. 

"and you're going to be someone, girl, even if you _are_ in love with that useless butt-sucker," he said. 

Misato began to protest that she didn't _love _the useless butt-sucker, bur Logan cut her off with a fist square to her jaw. The blow floored her instantly, just as he had hoped. No, as they had both hoped, because he knew she had a chance to dodge but didn't. He kneeled over her, kissing her on the lips one last time. He admired the elegance of her solution. Without the adamantium, she would be duty-bound to bring him, the last known source of adamantium, in to that Frankenstein blonde, Ritsuko. No telling what the good doctor would have done to extract the metal from him. Her professional sense of pride would never allow her to simply let him walk away. 

He only hoped he didn't hit her too hard, as his fingers brushed the soft contours of her cheek and jaw one last time. Then in the light of the dawn, he walked away northwards. It was time he bid Japan and this whole business goodbye.

"Brother Pierce, it is done," said the gravelly voice of Chairman Lorenz on the special radio that Brother Pierce carried with him at all times. 

Huddled away behind a makeshift barrier in the Confessional Hall, Brother Pierce was elated to have received the message on the radio. His men were brave, but they were no match for NERV, and he knew it. They were slowly being pushed away to the back of the hall, further away from the only exit, which was now crawling with NERV agents. The gunfire was surprisingly sparse, a few shots fired here and there, instead of the rain of ammunition both sides were expecting. The cultists had focused their firepower on the narrow entrance to the hall, making it hard for NERV to come in, but they had the advantage of superior firepower, and it was only a matter of time before the cause was lost. Brother Pierce took a last look at his hall, his followers and the shadowy figures of his opponents. It had been worth it. The adamantium would be safe, and when the Angels returned, NERV would be unable to defeat them. 

A bullet hit its mark directly above his head, but Brother Pierce took no heed of it. He only needed a few more seconds as he removed the device from his pocket. As he did so, one of his flock standing barely three feet away was shot in the head, killing her instantly. He felt a twinge of sorrow for not being fast enough. 

Now it was up to Mother Diana to claim them and keep them safe. 

He hurriedly activated the device, pressing a few buttons in a pre-determined order. As soon as the last button was pressed, he keeled over and died. His followers throughout the complex died with him instantly. It took a few minutes for NERV to realize what just happened. 

In the War Room at the Geofront, NERV's top officers could do nothing but watch as the dot on the radar disappeared. The operator tried desperately to regain contact, but couldn't. Ritsuko cursed under her breath, while Fuyutsuki shook his head resignedly. Commander Ikari had no expression, he never shows any when Rei wasn't around. 

"Can we give chase?" Ritsuko asked. "The helicopters we used to drop the extraction team..." 

"Too slow," interrupted Werner, the director of Operations. "And we don't want to alert the JSDF about this," he reminded her. If the Japanese government found out about this, it could get the agency evicted from the whole country. 

Fuyutsuki calmly surveyed the situation, his arms behind his back. He slowly made his way to Ritsuko. 

"Let it go, Doctor. We'll let them win this one," he said to her. Noting her condition, he continued, "take a few hours of rest, Doctor Akagi. You've been working too hard since all this started." 

"With all due respects, sir, I'd rather wait until our men come back," Ritsuko protested. 

"That will take a few hours. Take a break till then," Fuyutsuki told her again, with a firmer tone of voice this time. She silently left the war room, heading for the nearest bed. She stopped in the middle of a deserted corridor, and changed her direction, heading towards the Director of Investigations' office.   


****

5th Cranial Nerve Ward. 

"Rit-chan..hey. I always said I'd see you in the brain damage ward," 

Ritsuko managed to smile at that remark. One of the nurses brought her a chair.She sat down at the foot of Misato's bed, waving away the nurse, who discreetly closed the door as she left. 

"Enjoying the medical leave, Misato?" Ritsuko asked. "You have a few more days before they discharge you, but the bandages on your head stay for a week longer. That was quite a blow to your head." 

Misato managed to mumble a reply. She was found unconscious and flown back to the Geofront's on-base hospital. She had stayed there for three days now. She had a few visitors, mostly her family, and today was Ritsuko's first visit. 

"Sorry we couldn't get it back," she said, apologetic. 

"We got you back. Not a total loss." Ritsuko said, in the closest approximation of a soothing tone she could manage. 

"Hey, is it true the cult all killed themselves? Or are the guys just pulling my leg?" Misato asked. 

Ritsuko raised a curious eyebrow, then remembered. "Oh, that's right. You weren't there. Yes, Misato. They all killed themselves. Some kind of psychic blast using our old equipment. Killed every member of the cult below ground. Except for one very lucky man who was above ground at the time.." 

"Kaji?" 

Ritsuko cleared her throat. "Yes, Kaji. He was on our side the whole time. It seemed he found out about the cult, and tried to get it back for us," 

"Why?" 

"He thought it would impress us enough to hire him. Sorry we couldn't tell you that back then," not that Ritsuko believed that story when she heard it the first time. 

Misato's eyes rolled into the back of her head. "I knew the man had a crazy streak a mile wide," Misato said. "What did you do? Hire him?" she asked, fearing the answer. 

Ritsuko only smiled. "Well, at least it wasn't my decision." She interrupted Misato's groan. "My decision was to send him off to Operations in Germany. At least he'll be out of our collective hair for a while." 

"My old boyfriend, in Operations. Weird," was all Misato managed to say. 

"Fortunately, in Germany. If he was in Tokyo-3 neither one of you would report to work for a week," Ritsuko said mischievously. 

Misato almost turned green with embarassment. "Ahhh! Ritsuko! Don't bring that up again!" she begged, reflexively covering her face with both hands.

"Well, both of you did skip class for a week," Ritsuko said, relishing her friend's embarassment. "Seven days seven nights of X-rated bliss in the apartment, give or take a few hours." How she enjoyed watching Misato squirm. She should do this to her more often. "On the bright side," Ritsuko said, "your role in the operation was an eye-opener," 

"What? What does that mean?" Misato asked, confused. She didn't feel her role was major at all. In fact, she didn't feel good about her taking part in raiding Jasmine Falls at all. 

"The Director of Investigations said many nice things about you in his report. In fact, he recommended you for a promotion," Ritsuko told her. 

"Promotion?!" Misato said, shocked numb with joy. In the back of her mind, it had felt a little bit strange. The Director barely knew she existed, and she wasn't exactly a star performer in her department. "God, I must be dreaming!" she said excitedly. 

"No. Not a dream." Ritsuko continued, "I've also decided that you'd do us a whole lot of good in Tactical. You'll be overseeing combat operations of the EVAs. You can't pilot, but it seems you do have the ability to command." 

Misato's head was spinning. "Pinch me! This can't be real!" , she said, wincing in pain as Ritsuko pinched her arm, proving that this was indeed real. 

"So when will you be taking me to the celebration dinner, _Captain_ Katsuragi?" Ritsuko asked playfully. "And don't even dream about a home-cooked dinner for two. I've had quite enough of your attempts at cooking. I want a real restaurant, where I can actually wear a nice dress and not feel silly about it," she said, grinning widely now.

"You like steak?" Misato asked, unbearably happy.   


****

  
**If on a winter's night...**

"Look at the damage," Misato sighed in resignation. 

"But you have to respect the repair crews," said Makoto Hyuga, Misato's adjutant. "They never complain." he finished. He was an earnest young man, barely in his mid-twenties. His hair was dark brown, short and spiky. He kept saying it was easier to maintain that way. His thick, horn-rimmed glasses were old-fashioned beyond anything that can be said as "retro". Misato had often kidded him for his nerdish appearance, but the man was a good officer, calm under fire, and very friendly to her. 

They sat on a park bench in the underground forests that surrounded the pyramid building in the Geofront. Only that it was no longer a complete pyramid. The apex was blown off, and a gaping hole in the northern face of the pyramid was a brutal reminder of the Fourteenth Angel's attack on the Geofront. Misato sighed. The Angels came at last, mostly in the form of gigantic biomechanical monsters, one by one, and proved increasingly difficult to kill. The latest one,the Fourteenth, was almost unstoppable, and had even broken through to the command center where Misato was desperately trying to evacuate the staff. Were it not for Evangelion Unit One coming to the rescue, she'd be dead then. 

"Colonel?" Makoto asked, unsure if his commanding officer was paying attention to him. 

"Yes?" Misato asked, trying to shake the memory of that battle from her mind. 

"You wanted to discuss something," 

"Is it too much for me to ask, Hyuga-kun, if I asked you to look after the pilots for a while?" Misato asked him. "I don't know how long I'll be in Canada, and they're just kids," Misato said. "I won't make it an order, but if you could, I'd like that very much" Misato said, gently resting her hand on his. 

"Rei too?" Makoto asked. Misato shook her head. "So it's just Shinji and Asuka?". Misato smiled at him. "Please?" she asked hopefully. "They're fourteen year olds. They wouldn't give you too much trouble," Misato said. 

"Sure, Colonel," Makoto replied, resignedly. "But there's something I need to talk to you about before you leave." Makoto looked left and right to make sure they were truly alone. Maya was nowhere in sight. The woman was very likeable, cute even, but she was also Ritsuko's adjutant and her eyes and ears. There are things that went on smoother if the Chief Scientist didn't know about them. 

"Colonel," he said, his voice lowered to a whisper. 

Misato drew in closer, drawing back a lock of hair away from her ear. 

"These long periods late at night when you keep disappearing..." he whispered. Misato frowned. If Makoto noticed, others could too. "It's getting harder to cover for you, ma'am." he finished. 

"I'm grieving for Kaji," Misato said, her jaw set tight. As an afterthought, she added, "It's a very private time." She was lying, and she hoped she masked her body language enough. 

"The senior staff might not believe that much longer," Makoto objected. "Ritsuko's been very considerate but the others worry you might not be contactable when an Angel appears." 

"Duly noted, Lieutenant." 

Misato buttoned her red jacket, the collar star that signified her rank brushing against her hand. It had only been six years since she joined NERV as a lowly lieutenant. Six years ago, she was just an MP in Investigations, and her major worries were murdered personnel and missing adamantium. How innocent she was those days. Now she was NERV's Tactical Director, and third in command in combat, actually outranking Ritsuko when the Geofront goes into red alert. She commanded the agency's three Evangelion units, and two of the teenaged pilots actually lived with her. 

After almost six years of avoiding him, she gave Kaji a second chance at a relationship, only to have him found dead in a ventilation maintenance tunnel. Shot in the stomach, chest and groin. That was several weeks ago. 

"I'll be taking an agency plane from Kankuu airbase," Misato said. "The children have exams, but I'd appreciate you coming," she told Makoto.   
  
"Of course," he said. So what if tomorrow was his day off?   
  
Makoto noticed that Misato had disappeared again that night. 

Misato hated the cold. The MAGI memory core were kept supercooled, and stored in a room where the temperature barely stayed above freezing. She won't risk being seen wearing thermals, as all the techs knew the only area in the Geofront that required warm clothing is the memory core room. So all she could do was shiver in the cold, and keep her jacket tightly wrapped around her body, as well as cursing herself for wearing a skirt in here. 

The laptop rested on the bare skin of her thighs. It was an older model, and it ran hot, but here, it was a welcome source of warmth. As her fingers typed out the commands, it spat forth a torrent of text and pictures, data stolen from deeply hidden recesses of the MAGI. Data that Kaji had carefully hoarded and kept and passed to her before he died. 

There were gigabytes of information that she just couldn't begin to digest, about Angels, destiny, SEELE, the secrets of the Evangelion project, evolution, but it wasn't what she was interested in tonight. 

The file she was looking for came up on screen. She had seen it many times, but she just had to be sure of it before she left.She didn't understand the scientific gobbledygook, but she knew it was an old Gehirn report on the Weapon X program. It recommended that certain candidates be retrieved after a set number of years and certain biological material extracted from them for some kind of experiment. 

At the top of list of candidates to be "retrieved" was the name "Wolverine" , the man she knew as Logan. 

There was a date when the procedure would begin. It was three months ago. There was another report, auto-retrieved by the MAGI. It was a Royal Canadian Mounted Police arrest record of a man in the Yukon named Jake Smith that looked exactly like Logan, just as she remembered him. It was already a month old. Only the MAGI supercomputers had the power to search so many worldwide databases for him, and only a senior NERV officer could authorize such an activity. A senior NERV official, so far unidentified, who was secretly doing the bidding of some kind of secret organisation called SEELE. 

Logan was in danger. She didn't understand what SEELE wanted from him, or what they would do to him once they have him. She only knew SEELE had something to do with Kaji's death and he was killed for denying them what they wanted, so she could do no less than to continue his fight.

She will keep Logan safe from them whether he wants her to or not. 

It was a crisp, breezy winter's morning at Kankuu airbase, and Misato was in high spirits, her travelling bag slung over her shoulders. She liked to travel light, and she could always buy whatever else she needed in Vancouver before continuing on her mission. Makoto was there to see her off. So was Ritsuko, which kind of surprised her. 

"I don't think it'll take too long," Misato cheerfuly told them both. "It's a simple inspection tour," 

"Of every NERV facility in Canada." Ritsuko said, cutting Misato off. "Do you remember the emergency frequencies?" she asked. 

"Yes, Mother, I remember the emergency frequencies. Would you like to make sure i'm wearing thermal underwear too?" Misato asked scornfully, causing Makoto to giggle a little before he quickly covered his mouth. Ritsuko made a disapproving tsk sound, but Misato had ignored it for years now.   
  
"Say hello to Donna for me," Ritsuko said. "Oh, never mind," she said as she saw the blank look on Misato's face. 

Misato hugged Ritsuko, gave Makoto a handshake, and climbed up the steps into the airplane. 


	11. Reprisal 1:1 Epilogue

REPRISAL 0:11  
  
EPILOGUE  
  
Canada  
  
Cold. Misato hated the cold. It brought back painful, bitter memories. She would always associate the cold with Antarctica, that cursed land where Man met God, and tried to challenge him.  
  
The result was the cataclysm known as the Second Impact.  
  
That was fifteen years ago. It was Mankind's first contact with the alien creatures known as Angels.  
  
Fifeen years. Fifteen Angels. Two more remain, but today she was not hunting Angels.  
  
Misato stayed in the cover of the trees, observing her target. She kept an eye on him using her thermal imaging goggles as he made his way purposefully down the forest path, heading towards the small logging town up ahead.  
  
Misato's lips broke out into a thin smile directed at herself.  
  
"Five years. I wonder Logan, was it long enough for you to forget?" she asked no one in particular as she stowed away her goggles. She stood up as quietly as she could, trying not to make a sound. She knew he was quite far away, but she knew he had inhuman hearing. There was no need to reveal her presence to him yet. Not until she could figure out what he was up to.  
  
"You'll never make it in this business," he barked at her. "You're too soft. He drops a few names and you .."  
  
Misato smirked at the memory. Look at me now, she thought to herself. Five years ago, when they had first met, she was a green Lieutenant and he was the stone cold bad ass that excited, yet scared her.  
  
Now, she was Colonel Misato Katsuragi, NERV's Tactical Director, the woman who directed operations to destroy Angels. Though it had been a long time since she used her investigative skills, she was pleased to note that she wasn't rusty at all.  
  
She stood up, quietly brushing the snow away from her specially made, insulated jumpsuit. Her hands quickly removed the annoying snow from her shoulders, where her blue-black hair hung loose. She supposed she should have tucked her hair in under her headgear, but she didn't bother. She was too busy hunting down the man they called the Wolverine.  
  
She wanted this over with by tomorrow. She had two Children back in Japan, and there was no telling when the Sixteenth Angel would show up. Logan had better not put up a fight, she mused.  
  
"Time for our worlds to collide again," Misato said as she made her way after him.  
  
END.  
Authors' Notes: Reprisal was the first ever complete fanfic I ever wrote. It also marked a shift of fandom, from X-Men to Evangelion. Work began in June 2001 and the final chapter "Jasmine Falls" was uploaded to FFN, April 2002.  
  
To mark the release of X-Men 2 and the release of the special edition Eva DVDs. I am writing this chapter.  
  
There was actually a sequel to Reprisal, a boardfic I did with hida_tomoe at hughjackman.20m.com back in 2001, but unfortunately it was lost forever. I probably won't re-write it, since it's just not the same without Tomoe's collaborating with me.  
  
Have fun. The next Eva fic to be released by me would be "Damnation". Then I have to finsh A3I, and maybe work on my new Eva fic, "Fifth/Seventeenth"  
  
nodsri 


End file.
